More Weapons Programs to Get JET ScrutinyApril 08, 2010
 The Pentagon's top weapons buyer said the Defense Department plans to subject major programs to an independent review to get a more realistic sense of expected costs and schedules, Defense News reported. The decision was a reaction to delays and cost overruns of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. The Pentagon has "too many programs that resemble the Joint Strike Fighter in terms of poor performance," Ashton Carter, the Pentagon's acquisition chief, said during a National Aeronautics Association luncheon in Arlington, VA. These programs will face the scrutiny of "joint estimating teams," or JETs, which will review costs and the rate of progress. According to Defense News, Carter said he likes the way JETs provide an independent — and therefore more realistic — assessment of the state of major programs, compared to military program managers and prime contractors. For the F-35 program, Carter has already seen the "huge gulf" between the views of the military managers and Lockheed Martin (the prime contractor) on the one hand, and the JET's assessment on the other hand. Pentagon officials finally accepted the JET's forecasts and altered the program. The changes included the firing of a two-star general who ran the program and the withholding of $600 million from Lockheed Martin for poor performance, according to Defense News. These moves — in reaction to a JET review — has captured the attention of prime contractors and military program managers. "There is a complex and deep relationship between a prime supplier and defense customer," said Morris A. Cohen, a professor of operations and information management at Wharton. "Perhaps JETs will help to introduce more competition into the typical weapon system procurement process." Carter noted that the newly established Performance Assessments and Root Cause Analysis office — which was mandated by the 2009 Weapons Acquisition Reform Act — would allow defense acquisition officers to see the health and progress of a program in real time, according to the article. (Lockheed Martin photo (RELEASED)) |
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