How the Pentagon buys
Article Abstract:
Few people would say that public tax dollars are spent efficiently by the Department of Defense (DOD). Even Secretary of Defense Frank C. Carlucci admits that 'there are defects in how America equips its forces.' And yet, at its peak in 1985 the Pentagon let $163.7 billion for major contracts, an amount that has dropped only slightly in the three years since then. Decades of investigations and reforms have failed to change this faulty acquisition system. Major reforms instituted after the Packard commission report in 1986 have yet to show positive effects. The main areas of waste are in the major system acquisitions of $10 million or more, which represent 53 percent of procurement dollars. A built-in problem with major systems projects is that no one really knows how much they are going to cost to develop and build. When the projects overrun estimates, everyone gets blamed for inefficiency. One form, pointed out by several studies, is the failure of senior government managers to identify and change counterproductive acquisition methods.
Publication Name: IEEE Spectrum
Subject: Engineering and manufacturing industries
ISSN: 0018-9235
Year: 1988
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The price for might: military systems procurement
Article Abstract:
Defense procurement in the US has a spotty record. On one hand, a US general praised modern weaponry as 'a tribute to industry,' because of its effectiveness in skirmishes in the Iranian Gulf. On the other hand, investigators admitted that some improvements could be made to the radar that led to the downing of an Iranian civilian aircraft that cost 290 lives. In the midst of these defense equipment evaluations, the Justice Department is probing into former Navy and Air Force contracting officials and 11 major defense contractors in what is being called the biggest procurement scandal yet uncovered. Working or not, the procurement system is helping the world arm itself to the tune of $1 trillion each year. The US is spending $290 billion in 1989. Despite some minor reforms, the public believes almost half the defense budget is waste. An independent commission found that the average acquisition of military systems can be improved. The goal is better equipment at a more reasonable cost.
Publication Name: IEEE Spectrum
Subject: Engineering and manufacturing industries
ISSN: 0018-9235
Year: 1988
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Aerospace/military
Article Abstract:
The end of the Cold War in 1990 signaled the possibility of shrinking military budgets in future years, causing defense contractors to look for commercial ventures. The aerospace/military industry was dominated in 1990 by the Persian Gulf crisis: among the technologies important to the conflict are night-combat capabilities and enhanced electromagnetic signature control. The trend toward more distance between humans and the battlefield is expected to cause growth in the development of unmanned vehicles. The trend in space is toward inexpensive launch vehicles, such as the Pegasus system sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa). The Hubble Space Telescope's many problems were a popular topic in the media in 1990; NASA hopes its Gamma Ray Observatory to be launched in the first half of 1991 will encounter fewer problems.
Publication Name: IEEE Spectrum
Subject: Engineering and manufacturing industries
ISSN: 0018-9235
Year: 1991
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