The Pentagon's acquisition system, with roots that stretch back to World War II, is rapidly approaching a precipice. In the Cold War, the acquisition process was deliberately structured around stable development timelines and long production runs. There were exceptions to this pattern, such as the Polaris IRBM/SSBN ballistic missile development, but the exceptions simply proved the point that the regular process was not especially responsive to a rapidly changing strategic or technological environment.

http://www.armedforcesjournal.com/2005/11/1026317