Defense Acquisitions: Prices of Marine Corps Spare Parts Have Increased
Abstract
Because of concerns by military commands about increasing prices for spare parts, the General Accounting Office (GAO) was requested to examine spare part prices to determine whether these were increasing at a rate faster than inflation and the extent to which surcharges, suppliers' prices, and other factors contributed to price increases. This is the first in a series of reports examining price trends of spare parts managed by the military services. This report contains information on reparable spare parts the Marine Corps uses to maintain ground combat and support equipment such as vehicles, radars, and radio receivers. Specifically, it addresses (1) changes in the prices of reparable parts compared with the prices of similar items in the private sector and the reasons for the price changes and (2) the accuracy of prices set by the Marine Corps. Defense pricing policy requires the Marine Corps to establish prices for spare parts it manages at the beginning of each fiscal year. The Marine Corps manages its reparable spare parts under a revolving stock fund and charges its field units and repair facilities (referred to as customers) for parts provided. A surcharge is added to the cost of the parts to cover the costs of managing, storing, and distributing the parts. To determine whether prices of Marine Corps spare parts were increasing at a rate faster than inflation, we examined the price trend for the 703 different parts the Marine Corps managed from fiscal year 1995 through 1999.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 2000
- Accession Number
- ADA380224
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office