DEFENSE ACQUISITIONS: Strong Leadership Is Key to Planning and Executing Stable Weapon Programs

Abstract

While GAO's work has revealed significant aggregate cost and schedule growth in DOD's portfolio of major defense acquisition programs, individual programs within the portfolio vary greatly in terms of cost growth and schedule delays. Our analysis of individual program performance found that 21 percent of programs in DOD?s 2008 major defense acquisition portfolio appeared to be stable and on track with original cost and schedule goals. These programs tended to represent relatively smaller investments, with just under 9 percent of total dollars invested in these programs. Programs that appeared to be on track were markedly newer and had development cycles that were shorter than highly unstable programs.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 2010
Accession Number
ADA520924

Entities

Organizations

  • United States Government Accountability Office

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Air Defense
  • Aircraft Industry
  • Aircrafts
  • Airframes
  • Congress
  • Fighter Aircraft
  • Global Positioning Systems
  • Law
  • Lessons Learned
  • Military Acquisition
  • Satellite Guided Weapons
  • Systems Engineering
  • Tactical Aircraft
  • Test And Evaluation
  • United States Government
  • Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Readers

  • Brain and Cognitive Science; Experimental Psychology; Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Defense Acquisition Program Management
  • Life Cycle Cost Analysis