Pentagon says many arms programs not performing
Mon Mar 29, 2010 8:18pm BST Reuters UK
* Greater use of independent cost estimates seen
* Pentagon needs earlier tip-off of problems
WASHINGTON, March 29 (Reuters) – Ashton Carter, the Pentagon’s top acquisition official, said on Monday that many U.S. weapons programs were not performing as expected, and that he planned to use more independent cost estimates and step up oversight to identify problems sooner.
Carter described the Pentagon’s recent structuring of the Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) F-35 fighter jet program in detail, saying plans to lengthen the development program and move more gradually into production put the program on a more realistic footing for success.
He told aerospace industry executives that independent cost estimates helped identify problems with the F-35 program, and would be applied increasingly to other programs.
Asked to identify other programs that would come under similar scrutiny as the F-35 program, Carter said, “I don’t know where to start. There are so many.” He declined to name any specific programs that had drawn his attention.
He noted that chronic cost overruns and schedule delays were not just industry’s fault, but often stemmed from government decisions to revise the acquisition strategy or buy less of a specific item, which then drove up unit costs.
“There are too many programs that resemble the Joint Strike Fighter in the sense that they are not performing in the way that they were going to,” Carter said, calling the trend “very troubling.”
Carter said the Pentagon would take industrial base concerns into account when mapping out how to modernize the current bomber fleet.
He said Defense Secretary Robert Gates had decided to pursue development of a family of systems, rather than just one single new bomber, but officials were still mapping out what that approach would entail.
He said the approach could include a wide variety of capabilities, including manned and unmanned planes; reusable versus expendable and stand-off versus close in attacking.
“I’m very mindful that we have a family of industry also that works in this space,” Carter said, noting that the Defense Department had a fiduciary responsibility to maintain the industrial base for long-range strike, especially given that there were no counterpart industries in the commercial world. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa, editing by Matthew Lewis)
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