More than Half of the Pentagon’s Major Arms Efforts Are Late, GAO Finds – By Patrick Tucker (Defense One) / June 9, 2023
The watchdog urges the military to better follow commercial practices
The Pentagon’s uneven adoption of commercial practices is among the reasons more than half of its major acquisition programs are late, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office.
Those delays are affecting a wide variety of key weapons such as the Air Force’s Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile and the Navy’s Zumwalt destroyer, programs that are part of efforts to deter large, high-tech adversaries.
But it’s not all bad news. GAO praised some programs, including some that use the Middle Tier of Acquisition pathway, for using “certain product development practices aligned with key product development principles employed by leading companies.”
