Management of the Department of Defense: Cost estimating and cost reporting in DOD weapon programs

Management of the Department of Defense: Cost estimating and cost reporting in DOD weapon programs PDF Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Defense contracts
Languages : en
Pages : 160

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Management of the Department of Defense: Cost estimating and cost reporting in DOD weapon programs

Management of the Department of Defense: Cost estimating and cost reporting in DOD weapon programs PDF Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Defense contracts
Languages : en
Pages : 160

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Defense Management: DOD Needs Better Information and Guidance to More Effectively Manage and Reduce Operating and Support Costs of Major Weapon Systems

Defense Management: DOD Needs Better Information and Guidance to More Effectively Manage and Reduce Operating and Support Costs of Major Weapon Systems PDF Author: United States. Government Accountability Office
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1437936547
Category : Defense spending
Languages : en
Pages : 73

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Book Description
Report examining growth in operating and support (O&S) costs of major DOD weapons systems, and identifying measures to improve DOD ability to manage and reduce O&S costs of weapons systems over their life cycle.

DOD Needs to Provide More Credible Weapon Systems Cost Estimates to the Congress

DOD Needs to Provide More Credible Weapon Systems Cost Estimates to the Congress PDF Author: United States. General Accounting Office
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : United States
Languages : en
Pages : 132

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Management of the Department of Defense

Management of the Department of Defense PDF Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Defense contracts
Languages : en
Pages : 146

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Sources of Weapon System Cost Growth

Sources of Weapon System Cost Growth PDF Author: Joseph George Bolten
Publisher: Rand Corporation
ISBN: 0833042890
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 117

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Book Description
Previous studies have shown that the Department of Defense (DoD) and the military departments have historically underestimated the cost of new weapon systems. Quantifying cost growth is important, but the larger issue is why cost growth occurs. To address that issue, this analysis uses data from Selected Acquisition Reports to examine 35 mature, but not necessarily complete, major defense acquisition programs similar to the type and complexity of those typically managed by the Air Force. The programs are first examined as a complete set, then Air Force and non-Air Force programs are analyzed separately to determine whether the causes of cost growth in the two groups differ. Four major sources of cost growth were identified: (1) errors in estimation and scheduling, (2) decisions made by the government, (3) financial matters, and (4) miscellaneous sources. Total (development plus procurement) cost growth, when measured as simple averages among the program set, is dominated by decisions, which account for more than two-thirds of the growth. Most decisions-related cost growth involves quantity changes (22 percent), requirements growth (13 percent), and schedule changes (9 percent). Cost estimation (10 percent) is the only large contributor in the errors category. Less than 4 percent of the overall cost growth is due to financial and miscellaneous causes. Because decisions involving changes in requirements, quantities, and production schedules dominate cost growth, program managers, service leadership, and Congress should look for ways to reduce changes in these areas.

Historical Cost Growth of Completed Weapon System Programs

Historical Cost Growth of Completed Weapon System Programs PDF Author: Mark V. Arena
Publisher: Rand Corporation
ISBN: 0833039253
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 74

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Book Description
This report is one of a series from a RAND Project AIR FORCE project, "The Cost of Future Military Aircraft: Historical Cost Estimating Relationships and Cost Reduction Initiatives." The purpose of the project is to improve the tools used to estimate the costs of future weapon systems. It focuses on how recent technical, management, and government policy changes affect cost. This report focuses on the accuracy of cost estimates. For our analysis, we used a very specific sample of Selected Acquisition Report (SAR) data, namely only programs that are complete or are nearly so. The analysis indicates a systematic bias toward underestimating the costs and substantial uncertainty in estimating the final cost of a weapon system. In contrast to the previous literature, the cost growth was higher than previously observed. We also found few correlations with cost growth, but observed that programs with longer duration had greater cost growth and electronics programs tended to have lower cost growth. Although there were some differences in the mean cost growth factors among the military departments, the differences were not statistically significant. While newer programs appear to have lower cost growth, this trend appears to be due to factors other than acquisition policies.

Defense Management

Defense Management PDF Author: U.s. Government Accountability Office
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781974410927
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 74

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Book Description
"The Department of Defense (DOD) spends billions of dollars each year to sustain its weapon systems. These operating and support (O&S) costs can account for a significant portion of a system's total life-cycle costs and include costs for repair parts, maintenance, and personnel. The Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009 directs GAO to review the growth in O&S costs of major systems. GAO's report addresses (1) the extent to which life-cycle O&S cost estimates developed during acquisition and actual O&S costs are available for program management and decision making; (2) the extent to which DOD uses life-cycle O&S cost estimates after systems are fielded to quantify cost growth and identify its causes; and (3) the efforts taken by DOD to reduce O&S costs for major systems. GAO selected seven aviation systems that reflected varied characteristics and have been fielded at least several years. These systems were the F/A-18E/F, F-22A, B-1B, F-15E, AH-64D, CH-47D, and UH-60L. "

Is Weapon System Cost Growth Increasing?

Is Weapon System Cost Growth Increasing? PDF Author: Obaid Younossi
Publisher: Rand Corporation
ISBN: 0833041355
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 142

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Book Description
In recent decades, there have been numerous attempts to rein in the cost growth of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) acquisition programs. Cost growth is the ratio of the cost estimate reported in a program's final Selected Acquisition Report (SAR) and the cost-estimate baseline reported in a prior SAR issued at a particular milestone. Drawing on prior RAND research, new analyses of completed and ongoing weapon system programs, and data drawn from SARs, this study addresses the following questions: What is the cost growth of DoD weapon systems? What has been the trend of cost growth over the past three decades? To address the magnitude of cost growth, it examines cost growth in completed programs; to evaluate the cost growth trend over time, it provides additional analysis of a selection of ongoing programs. This sample of ongoing programs permits a look at growth trends in the more recent past. Changes in the mix of system types over time and dollar-weighted analysis were also considered because earlier studies have suggested that cost growth varies by program type and the cost of the program. The findings suggest that development cost growth over the past three decades has remained high and without any significant improvement.

Concepts

Concepts PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : United States
Languages : en
Pages : 640

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Book Description
Disseminates information concerning new developments and effective actions taken relative to the management of defense systems programs and defense systems acquisition.

Defense Management

Defense Management PDF Author: Sharon L. Pickup
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Government publications
Languages : en
Pages : 30

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Book Description
DOD is estimating and publishing approximate costs for selected types of internally and externally required reports, but in some cases its approach is not fully consistent with relevant cost estimating best practices and cost accounting standards. Specifically, DOD entities have been directed to use the cost estimating tool to capture marginal costs of activities associated with completing a report or study that would not have been performed otherwise. These costs consist of certain manpower costs (such as the prorated salaries of military and civilian personnel based on the time they spent) and nonlabor costs (such as contract services, travel, or printing). DOD currently lacks a means to ensure that organizations are developing cost estimates for all required types of reports and studies, but is taking steps to enhance its ability to monitor the preparation of reports and studies to satisfy reporting requirements, including those for which a cost estimate is required to be generated. DOD's guidance on using the tool identified 10 specific types of reports or studies that require a cost estimate. The guidance states that the DOD component preparing a report or study is responsible for ensuring that a cost estimate, if required, is included. However, the guidance does not include any process or requirement to track whether organizations are developing required cost estimates. According to CAPE officials who developed the tool, they were not directed to ensure that cost estimates have been developed for all required reports and studies, and they added that the cost estimating tool was not designed to track reports and studies that require a cost estimate. These same officials noted that the magnitude of DOD's reporting requirements makes it challenging to identify the universe of these requirements and to track the completion of reports and studies to meet them, including whether cost estimates have been generated. In the past year, DOD has initiated efforts to improve its visibility over its internal and external reporting requirements.