Something else to consider would be the procurement problems that the U.S. military has been facing for a good while now.
For example, take the F-35 Joint Strike fighter program: originally, it was projected to start coming into service sometime around 2010; however numerous delays (many of which seem to stem from a number of engineering and political issues) have meant that only a few have actually made it into service (and only of the -A model that's intended for the Air Force; the -B and -C models for, respectively, the Marine Corps and the Navy, are apparently proving to be the "problem children", so to speak, of the program.
Now, with this and other examples in mind, it made me think: part of me thinks that the addition of handwavium could potentially ease at least some of the procurement troubles; however, another part of me thinks that, at least in some respects, handwavium could make procurement even more difficult than it current is.
To go back to the JSF example that I mentioned: potentially, the addition of handwavium to select areas of the F-35's design could correct for some of the current deficiencies in the design; for example, a properly 'waved drive could alleviate or even completely negate some of the aircraft's performance issues. On the other hand, certain "known" properties of handwavium (for given definitions of "known", at any rate) may end up compensating negatively to these positive boosts; for example, imagine having to deal with AIs that don't want to take part in certain military operations, even when forced to. In addition, the Slapstick Effect will have to be dealt with; perhaps the best way to do that might be making sure that none of the ordnance comes into contact with any quantities of handwavium, which is likely to become easier said than done.
Of course, these are just my thoughts; if there are any that you want to add, feel free to do so. I might not necessarily agree with them, but I'll at least be willing to hear them out nevertheless.
For example, take the F-35 Joint Strike fighter program: originally, it was projected to start coming into service sometime around 2010; however numerous delays (many of which seem to stem from a number of engineering and political issues) have meant that only a few have actually made it into service (and only of the -A model that's intended for the Air Force; the -B and -C models for, respectively, the Marine Corps and the Navy, are apparently proving to be the "problem children", so to speak, of the program.
Now, with this and other examples in mind, it made me think: part of me thinks that the addition of handwavium could potentially ease at least some of the procurement troubles; however, another part of me thinks that, at least in some respects, handwavium could make procurement even more difficult than it current is.
To go back to the JSF example that I mentioned: potentially, the addition of handwavium to select areas of the F-35's design could correct for some of the current deficiencies in the design; for example, a properly 'waved drive could alleviate or even completely negate some of the aircraft's performance issues. On the other hand, certain "known" properties of handwavium (for given definitions of "known", at any rate) may end up compensating negatively to these positive boosts; for example, imagine having to deal with AIs that don't want to take part in certain military operations, even when forced to. In addition, the Slapstick Effect will have to be dealt with; perhaps the best way to do that might be making sure that none of the ordnance comes into contact with any quantities of handwavium, which is likely to become easier said than done.
Of course, these are just my thoughts; if there are any that you want to add, feel free to do so. I might not necessarily agree with them, but I'll at least be willing to hear them out nevertheless.