GAO Criticizes Pentagon Planning For New Aircraft

In testimony before the House Subcommittee on Air and Land Forces (Committee on Armed Services), the GAO criticized the Pentagon's "programmatic decision-making" as it invests billions of dollars in new "warfighter" (aircraft) development.

This third-party analysis is critical given the focus of the President’s 2007 budget on defense spending. The GAO report notes that the Pentagon plans to spend $12 billion in “new and improved capabilities in four airlift programs discussed in this testimony between now and 2013.”

In written testimony (pdf), Michael J. Sullivan, director, acquisition and sourcing management issues, and William M. Solis, director, defense capabilities and management issues, said,

[A]cquisition problems will likely persist until DOD provides a better foundation for buying the right things, the right way.

Notice the verb persist: the problems are not new and this isn't the first time the GAO has told Congress about them.

For the past several years, we have reported our concerns with the analyses done to support requirements and have recently issued two reports that raise concerns about the quality of analyses underpinning the programmatic decision-making surrounding DOD’s airlift requirements. In September 2006, we issued our report on DOD’s Mobility Capabilities Study (MCS)...

In our report, we stated that conclusions of the MCS were based on incomplete data and inadequate modeling and metrics that did not fully measure stress on the transportation system. We further observed that, in some cases, the MCS results were incomplete, unclear, or contingent on further study, making it difficult to identify findings and evaluate evidence. It is not clear how the analyses done for the study support DOD’s conclusions and we suggested that decision makers exercise caution in using the results of this study to make programmatic decisions.

This week, we issued a report on the lack of mandatory analyses to support a passenger and cargo capability for the new replacement refueling aircraft, the KC-X tanker. Contrary to mandatory Air Force implementing guidance, the Air Force proposed a capability without an analyses identifying an associated gap, shortfall, or redundancy. Air Force officials could not provide supporting information sufficient to explain this discrepancy between the required analyses and their proposal.

This third-party analysis is critical given the focus of the President's 2007 budget on defense spending. The GAO report notes that the Pentagon plans to spend $12 billion in "new and improved capabilities in four airlift programs discussed in this testimony between now and 2013."

Related:

• Defense Acquisitions: Issues Concerning Airlift and Tanker Programs, GAO testimony before the Subcommittee on Air and Land Forces, House Committee on Armed Services; GAO-07-566T, March 7. (pdf)
• 2008 Budget Primer (from US Economy Guide Kimberly Amadeo)
• 2008 Budget: Military Spending (from US Economy Guide Kimberly Amadeo)
• Bush: We Can Balance The Budget And Not Raise Taxes (2007)
• Bush Proposes Record Defense Budget, Cuts in Domestic Programs (2006)
• Bush Budget Analysis (2005)
• Federal Budget Process
• How (and Why) We Fight
• Federal Spending and the National Debt