A congressional audit released Friday found that major American weapons development projects are collectively running about $23 billion over budget and averaging roughly two years behind their production schedules, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
The GAO examined 23 large programs and found that 10 had already exceeded initial cost estimates by more than 30 percent and were at least a year late. Many of the remaining programs were too early in development to assess reliably.
The Pentagon is projected to spend $1.3 trillion on weapons development and procurement between 2005 and 2009, with roughly $800 billion still to be obligated. The GAO cautioned that mismanagement within conventional error margins could produce severe financial consequences.
Several individual programs showed especially sharp overruns. The unmanned Global Hawk spy plane, deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, came in 166 percent above original cost projections. The Army's Future Combat System and the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle were each four years behind schedule and more than 48 and 61 percent over budget, respectively. The Joint Strike Fighter and the Aerial Common Sensor also reported significant cost and schedule failures.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in April 2006, in its own words.