Or loose the next war. In 2011 USAF let a $35 billion contract to Boeing for 179 KC 46 tankers. In 2021 USAF finally decides that they can fly the KC 46 for "limited operations". That is ten years pissed away on a job that should not have taken more than 2 years. The job was simple, take an existing, well proven airliner, take out the seats and install fuel tanks and a refueling boom. A lot of this time was sucked up with USAF paperwork. More was consumed by gold plating the design. Every year the program runs it sucks up more money without getting us more tankers.
Back in WWII we could go from a paper specification to mass production in a year.
Way to go USAF. Note: I am a USAF veteran.