New Post Proposed At Pentagon -- Director Of Independent Cost Assessments

From The Washington Post:

A bill to end cost overruns in major weapons systems would create a powerful new Pentagon position -- director of independent cost assessments -- to review cost analyses and estimates, separately from the military branch requesting the program.

Those reviews, unlike in the current process, would take place at key points in the acquisition process before a weapons program can proceed, according to legislation sponsored by Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)

Last year, the Government Accountability Office reported that cost overruns on the Pentagon's 95 largest weapons acquisitions system totaled about $300 billion, even though the government cut quantities and reduced performance expectations.

"A train wreck is coming," McCain said at a hearing yesterday on the bill.

Read more ....

My Comment: In theory this seems to be a good project. But much of this is still dependent on Congressional oversight .... and unfortunately (as we all know) Congress has a lousy history in providing oversight.