Statement of Robert F. Hale, Assistant Director, National Security Division, Congressional Budget Office

Abstract

Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to be here today to testify for the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on the pace of weapons production for the Department of Defense (DoD). My testimony presents preliminary results of a study being done at the request of the present Committee Chairman. Many DoD weapons are currently being procured at rates well below maximum. Higher production rates would offer important advantages: more weapons would get into the field more quickly, and unit and total program costs would be lower. But higher production rates also have some potential disadvantages. Key among them are higher near-term program costs. These costs would probably require offsetting budget reductions, including perhaps the deferral for a few years of new weapons systems with accompanying delays in the benefits of their new technology. Thus, the choice of how fast to produce DoD weapons involves trade-offs. My testimony will illustrate the nature of these trade-offs -- quantifying them where possible.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 17, 1987
Accession Number
ADA529881

Entities

People

  • Robert F. Hale

Organizations

  • Congressional Budget Office

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Air Force
  • Aircrafts
  • Anti-Radiation Missiles
  • Anti-Tank Missiles
  • Combat Vehicles
  • Commerce
  • Contractors
  • Defense Industry
  • Defense Systems
  • Department Of Defense
  • National Security
  • Procurement
  • Production Rate
  • Security
  • Surface To Air Missiles
  • Transport Aircraft

Readers

  • Defense Acquisition Program Management
  • Life Cycle Cost Analysis