Cost for U.S. Weapons Programs Increased by $27 Billion Last Year - Bloomberg Business: The costs for 47 of the Pentagon’s top 78weapons programs increased last year by a combined $27 billion,according to Congress’s watchdog agency.
“This undesirable cost performance shows the need forcontinued oversight” as “programs continue through theacquisition cycle,” the Government Accountability Office saidin the draft of its annual report on weapons costs, which isscheduled for release this month.
Many of the programs that increased in cost did so by lessthan 5 percent, including a 1.3 percent increase for LockheedMartin Corp.’s F-35 fighter, the most expensive U.S. weaponssystem. The F-35 program’s “costs have risen over the past yearwithout any change in quantity, meaning it is paying more forthe same amount of capability,” the GAO said.
The biggest increase was 146 percent for the WIN-TIncrement 2 tactical communications network made by GeneralDynamics Corp., although that stemmed largely from the Army’sdecision to buy 3,167 more units.
