Defense Acquisitions: Where Should Reform Aim Next?

Abstract

DoD's acquisition of major weapon systems has been on GAO's high risk list since 1990. Over the past 50 years, Congress and DoD have continually explored ways to improve acquisition outcomes, including reforms that have championed sound management practices, such as realistic cost estimating, prototyping, and systems engineering. Too often, GAO reports on the same kinds of problems today that it did over 20 years ago. The topic of today's hearing is: "25 Years of Acquisition Reform: Where Do We Go From Here?" To that end, this testimony discusses the following: (1) the performance of DoD's major defense acquisition program portfolio; (2) the management policies and processes currently in place to guide those acquisitions; (3) the incentives to deviate from otherwise sound acquisition practices; and (4) suggestions to temper these incentives. This statement draws from GAO's extensive body of work on DoD's acquisition of weapon systems.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 29, 2013
Accession Number
ADA587880

Entities

People

  • Paul L. Francis

Organizations

  • United States Government Accountability Office

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Best Practices
  • Carrier Based Aircraft
  • Commerce
  • Congress
  • Contracts
  • Cost Estimates
  • Defense Industry
  • Department Of Defense
  • Engineering
  • Governments
  • Manufacturing
  • Market Economy
  • Military Acquisition
  • Product Development
  • United States Government
  • Weapon Systems

Readers

  • Defense Acquisition Program Management