Cost Overruns Continue To Plague Major US Weapons Programs, Despite Reforms - GAO

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th May, 2019) The US portfolio of 82 major weapons systems has grown by $8 billion during the past year, with Department of Defense (DOD) efforts slipping to control costs under a 2010 package of acquisition reforms, the General Accountability Office (GAO) said in an annual report on Tuesday.

"Portfolio-wide cost growth has occurred in an environment where awards are often made without full and open competition," the report stated. "DOD's 2018 portfolio of major weapon programs has grown in cost by $8 billion.

A Primary cause of cost overruns, the report said, is a failure by defense contractors to meet deadlines as a result of Defense Department decisions to introduce new capabilities while weapons systems are under development, instead of starting new programs.

The report represents GAO's 17th annual assessment of the Defense Department's major weapons portfolio, now valued at $1.

69 trillion and consisting of 82 systems, the report said.

Unlike in prior years, newer programs that were started after acquisition reforms were implemented in 2010 have begun to show cost growth, the report added.

In one example, the report faults F-35 jet program for completing baseline development test flights in April 2018 with more than 900 performance deficiencies uncorrected.

The F-35 program then began operational testing without fully resolving the 800 deficiencies, many related to software in the fifth generation aircraft, according to the report.

The total 55-year life cycle cost of the F-35 program is expected to top $1.1 trillion, according to the latest Defense Department estimate, with private analysts predicting costs of up to $1.5 trillion.