DoD Aims To Cut Costs of Future Arms, Not Today's

[unhappycamper]

DoD Aims To Cut Costs of Future Arms, Not Today's
By JOHN T. BENNETT
Published: 27 Jul 2010 15:48

The Pentagon's cost-cutting effort is aimed at upcoming programs, not existing ones, senior acquisition officials said July 27 at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington.

Peppered by questions from industry and academic audience members, DoD industrial affairs chief Brett Lambert and others said they have received no direction to cut a specific dollar amount from existing programs; rather, they are overhauling buying guidelines before the U.S. military begins writing specifications and contracts for several new - and expensive - platforms.

Lambert did not directly address concerns about profit caps and cash flow.

He did say that the procurement changes that will be directed by acquisition defense undersecretary Ashton Carter and implemented in September - and subsequent ones perhaps arriving over several years - would be applied not to current programs but new ones such as new nuclear-armed submarines and future blocks of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Lambert said Defense Secretary Robert Gates has not given his office a specific amount to trim from programs.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

1. Before a system if fielded, its life cycle costs are already locked in

Requirements and design decisions are the driver for that. The only recourse with fielded/nearly fielded systems is to limit use or buy less. Total ownership or life cycle costs for systems have been a focal point for some time. Not sure how much more they can design out.