Cui bono?
Despite my instinctive aversion to conspiracy theories, I'm beginning to believe that Putin *was* behind Trump's election win. He appears to be the main beneficiary from just about every decision made since.
This particular brain death is clearly going to result in vendor lock-in and the Pentagon's encouraging words about convergence actually point to the reason why: the successful vendor can exclude everyone else from the running next time around by being as bloody awkward and secretive as possible about interop standard. This secrecy, of course, would be "in the national interest".
The lack of awareness of how businesses operate would be understandable amongst politicians steeped in Marxist theology and weaned on central planning. Coming from what claims to be the world's greatest free-market economy, it is ... jaw-dropping.