Economic pressures are forcing justifiable cuts in military spending. The
budget control act passed by Congress in 2011 mandated $480 billion in
cuts over 10 years, with the possibility of $500 billion more in
reductions, beginning next January. After a decade of unrestrained military spending, the Pentagon needs this rebalancing.
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With such cuts looming, it is more important than ever to ensure that
every defense dollar is spent wisely. Yet problems with two major
weapons show how far the Pentagon is from that goal and how
dysfunctional its procurement system remains.
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The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter was supposed to prove that the Pentagon
could build a technologically advanced weapon system within an
affordable budget, without huge delays. After the aircraft turned into
the Pentagon’s biggest budget buster, and performed disappointingly, the
Obama administration tried to correct course in 2010. A new report last
month by the Government Accountability Office showed that the problems
had not been solved.
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The Air Force, the Navy and the Marines plan to buy more than 2,400
F-35s through 2037. The accountability office now estimates the total
cost of acquisition at nearly $400 billion, up 42 percent from the
estimate in 2007; the price per plane has doubled since project
development began in 2001. Cost overruns now total $1 billion.
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