ORAC
12th Mar 2008, 07:32
DefenseNews: Joint Strike Fighter Over Budget, Late: Report (http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=3418567&c=AME&s=AIR)
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Published: 11 Mar 21:40 EDT (17:40 GMT) Print | Email
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Joint Strike Fighter next generation warplane for U.S. and allied forces is behind schedule, and could come in $38 billion over budget, a government auditor warned March 11.
The Government Accountability Office said the project for a stealthy supersonic aircraft, set to be used by U.S. air, marine and naval forces, as well as Britain, Canada and other U.S. allies, was likely to face new delays.
"Midway through development, the program is over cost and behind schedule," the GAO said in a report (http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08388.pdf).
The U.S. part of the project to procure and maintain more than 2,400 aircraft is slated to cost more than $950 billion over the program's life cycle.
"Difficulties in stabilizing aircraft designs and the inefficient manufacturing of test aircraft have forced the program to spend management reserves much faster than anticipated," the report said.
The GAO, a non-partisan investigative arm of Congress, said that costs of the project will be much higher than anticipated and more time may be needed to complete development and testing.
The report cited three different offices in the Department of Defense as concluding that "the official program cost estimate is understated in a range up to 38 billion dollars and that the development schedule is likely to slip from 12 to 27 months."........
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Published: 11 Mar 21:40 EDT (17:40 GMT) Print | Email
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Joint Strike Fighter next generation warplane for U.S. and allied forces is behind schedule, and could come in $38 billion over budget, a government auditor warned March 11.
The Government Accountability Office said the project for a stealthy supersonic aircraft, set to be used by U.S. air, marine and naval forces, as well as Britain, Canada and other U.S. allies, was likely to face new delays.
"Midway through development, the program is over cost and behind schedule," the GAO said in a report (http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08388.pdf).
The U.S. part of the project to procure and maintain more than 2,400 aircraft is slated to cost more than $950 billion over the program's life cycle.
"Difficulties in stabilizing aircraft designs and the inefficient manufacturing of test aircraft have forced the program to spend management reserves much faster than anticipated," the report said.
The GAO, a non-partisan investigative arm of Congress, said that costs of the project will be much higher than anticipated and more time may be needed to complete development and testing.
The report cited three different offices in the Department of Defense as concluding that "the official program cost estimate is understated in a range up to 38 billion dollars and that the development schedule is likely to slip from 12 to 27 months."........