Download or read book Operating and Support Cost Considerations in Major Weapon System Acquisitions written by David J. Shaffer and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 85 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In FY 90, Operating and Support costs accounted for 73% of the Army's budget request. Thus, in an era of decreasing budgets, it is not surprising that the O & S accounts are coming under increased scrutiny. The Army must be ready to evaluate options for reducing O & S costs while still maintaining its overall force readiness. Additionally, new systems in development must be carefully analyzed to ensure that support systems are being designed to operate within future O & S appropriations. The focus of this research paper was to take an objective look at O & S cost analysis in the Army. It examines the linkage between O & S cost analysis and the Army's Planning, Programming, Budget and Execution System (PPBES). Additionally, the O & S costs of 25 weapon systems are evaluated in an effort to identify those areas where the Army should focus its O & S cost analysis. From here, the study then evaluates some of the analytical tools that can be used in this process, along with their attendant strengths and weaknesses. In summary, this study provides the background, analysis and evaluation of many of the critical issues surrounding O & S cost analysis in the Army. The study concludes with a set of recommendations which are directed at providing a logical framework for considering O & S cost analysis within the Army acquisition process. Keywords: Reports, Periodicals, Military publications. (EG).
Download or read book Defense Management DOD Needs Better Information and Guidance to More Effectively Manage and Reduce Operating and Support Costs of Major Weapon Systems written by United States. Government Accountability Office and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2010 with total page 73 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Life Cycle Cost Estimating its Status and Potential Use in Major Weapon System Acquisitions Department of Defense written by United States. General Accounting Office and published by . This book was released on 1974 with total page 38 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Concepts written by and published by . This book was released on 1981 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Disseminates information concerning new developments and effective actions taken relative to the management of defense systems programs and defense systems acquisition.
Download or read book Defense Management written by U.s. Government Accountability Office and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2017-08-10 with total page 74 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "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. "
Download or read book Application of Design to cost Concept to Major Weapon System Acquisitions Department of Defense written by United States. General Accounting Office and published by . This book was released on 1975 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Defense Acquisitions written by Michael J. Sullivan and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2008-10 with total page 47 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The DoD expects the cost to develop and procure the major weapon systems in its portfolio to total $1.6 trill. With increased competition for funding within DoD and across the fed. gov¿t., effectively managing these acquisitions is critical. Yet DoD programs often experience poor outcomes -- like increased costs and delayed fielding of needed capabilities. In 2006, a report was issued on DoD¿s processes for identifying needs and allocating resources for its weapon system programs. In 2007, it was reported that DoD consistently commits to more programs than it can support. This report assesses DoD¿s funding approach, identifies factors that influence the effectiveness of this approach, and identifies practices that could help improve DoD¿s approach.
Download or read book Sources of Weapon System Cost Growth written by Joseph George Bolten and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 2008 with total page 117 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Inaccuracy of Department of Defense Weapons Acquisition Cost Estimates written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Government Operations. Legislation and National Security Subcommittee and published by . This book was released on 1979 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book DOD Needs to Provide More Credible Weapon Systems Cost Estimates to the Congress written by United States. General Accounting Office and published by . This book was released on 1984 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Weapons Acquisition DoD Should Strengthen Policies for Assessing Technical Data Needs to Support Weapon Systems written by and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2006 with total page 58 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Army and the Air Force have encountered limitations in their sustainment plans for some fielded weapon systems because they lacked needed technical data rights. The lack of technical data rights has limited the services flexibility to make changes to sustainment plans that are aimed at achieving cost savings and meeting legislative requirements regarding depot maintenance capabilities. During our review we identified seven Army and Air Force weapon system programs where these military services encountered limitations in implementing revisions to sustainment plans C-17 aircraft, F-22 aircraft, C-130J aircraft, Up-armored High- Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV), Stryker family of vehicles, Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft, and M4 carbine. Although the circumstances surrounding each case were unique, earlier decisions made on technical data rights during system acquisition were cited as a primary reason for the limitations subsequently encountered. As a result of the limitations encountered due to the lack of technical data rights, the services had to alter their plans for developing maintenance capability at public depots, new sources of supply to increase production, or competitive offers for the acquisition of spare parts and components to reduce sustainment costs. For example, the Air Force identified a need to develop a capability to perform maintenance on the C-17 at government depots but lacked the requisite technical data rights. Consequently, the Air Force is seeking to form partnerships with C-17 subvendors to develop its depot maintenance capability. Its efforts to form these partnerships have had mixed results, according to Air Force officials, because some sub-vendors have declined to provide the needed technical data.
Download or read book Defense Acquisitions written by Gene L. Dodaro and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2010 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report examines how well DoD is planning and executing its weapon acquisition programs. The report includes: (1) an analysis of the overall performance of DoD's 2008 portfolio of 96 major defense acquisition programs and a comparison to the portfolio performance at two other points in time -- 5 years ago and 1 year ago; (2) an analysis of current cost and schedule outcomes and knowledge attained by key junctures in the acquisition process for a subset of 47 weapon programs -- primarily in development -- from the 2008 portfolio; (3) data on other factors that could impact program stability; and (4) an update on changes in DoD's acquisition policies. Includes a one- or two-page assessment of 67 weapon programs. Illustrations.
Download or read book Defense Acquisitions written by United States. General Accounting Office and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book A Summary and Analysis of the Initial Application of Life Cycle Costing Techniques to a Major Weapon System Acquisition written by Archie C. Bell and published by . This book was released on 1978 with total page 110 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first USAF major system acquisition program in which there was explicit consideration given to LCC was the A-X/A-10 Close Air Support Aircraft competition. LCC considerations were quantified using an operating and support (O and S) cost model developed under Project ABLE (Acquisition Based upon consideration of Logistics Effects). Air Force objectives in applying the O and S cost model were: (1) to encourage contractor consideration of operating and support costs in system design, (2) to aid in source selection, (3) to aid in evaluation of engineering change proposals, and (4) to aid in determining the magnitude of award fee (if any) to be granted the contractor. This research has focused on the degree to which these objectives were actually met, problems encountered in meeting them, and suggestions for improving future applications of O and S cost models in LCC programs. Several major deficiencies were discovered in data use and model application that cast serious doubt on the efficacy of this first O and S cost model application and require amelioration to avoid repetition of problems in future acquisition programs. (Author).
Download or read book Budgetary Pressures Created by the Army s Plans to Procure New Major Weapon Systems are Just Beginning written by United States. General Accounting Office and published by . This book was released on 1981 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: GAO reviewed new weapon system acquisition programs to determine the likely effect on the budget for the next several years of financing the procurement, operation, and support of the Army's new major weapon systems and identifying ways for relieving the pressure which characterized the preparation of the Army's 1982-1986 5-Year Defense Program. The 1970's marked the Army's most intensive peacetime effort to modernize its forces with new weapon systems. Most of the procurement of these systems became a reality in preparing the fiscal year 1982 budget. With less funds available than were needed to procure the weapons in the quantities desired, together with substantial cost increases, the Army proposed to stretch out the production schedules of nearly all of the systems which would have resulted in higher prices and program delays. Additional funds in the revised fiscal year 1982 budget alleviated this problem. The systems production has been characterized by substantial cost growth, stemming mainly from the actual production processes being more complex than anticipated and requiring more labor hours and machine time. Much of the cost growth was due to inflation. The use of optimistic inflation rates in developing cost estimates also accounts for some of the cost growth. Operating and supporting the new weapon systems once they are fielded will require very large amounts of resources. Since the budgetary effect of operations and support will not be felt until after the weapons are deployed, these costs are not receiving as much attention as procurement costs. Fielding all of the systems will seriously strain the Army's resources. Most of the systems will require more skilled personnel, more fuel and ammunition, a greater expenditure for spare parts, and will impose a logistics burden on the Army.
Download or read book Defense Logistics written by United States. Government Accountability Office and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 43 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With the nation facing fiscal challenges and the potential for tighter defense budgets, Congress and the Department of Defense (DOD) have placed more attention on controlling the billions of dollars spent annually on weapon system operating and support (O & S) costs. These costs include, costs for repair parts, maintenance, and personnel, and account for about 70 percent of the total costs of a weapon system over its life cycle. The selected acquisition report (SAR) is DOD's key recurring status report on the cost, schedule, and performance of major defense acquisition programs and is intended to provide authoritative information for congressional oversight of these programs. Oversight of O & S costs is important because many of the key decisions affecting these life-cycle costs are made during the acquisition process. GAO reviewed weapon system O & S cost estimates that DOD submits in the SAR. Specifically, GAO determined the extent to which the SARs provide consistent and reliable O & S cost estimate information that enables effective oversight of these weapon system costs. To conduct its review, GAO analyzed SAR data for 84 major systems that submitted O & S cost estimates in the 2010 SAR and selected a nonprobability sample of 15 systems for more in-depth review. To enhance visibility of weapon system O & S costs during acquisition, GAO recommends that DOD improve its guidance to program offices on cost reporting and also improve its process for reviewing these costs prior to final submission of the SAR to Congress. DOD concurred with GAO's recommendations.
Download or read book Defense Acquisitions DoD Must Prioritize Its Weapon System Acquisitions and Balance Them with Available Resources written by Michael J. Sullivan and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2010 with total page 19 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since FY 2000, the DoD has significantly increased the number of major defense acquisition programs and its overall investment in them. However, acquisition outcomes have not improved. In most cases, the programs failed to deliver capabilities when promised -- often forcing warfighters to spend additional funds on maintaining legacy systems. This testimony describes the systemic problems that have contributed to poor cost and schedule outcomes in DoD¿s acquisition of major weapon systems; recent actions DoD has taken to address these problems; and steps that Congress and DoD need to take to improve the future performance of DoD¿s major weapon programs. Illustrations.
