Carter pledges to reform DOD weapons buying

The administration’s nominee to oversee Pentagon weapons acquisition told U.S. senators on March 26 that he plans to bring “iron discipline” to the military acquisition system and institute a number of key reforms, reports Defense News.

In verbal and written testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Ashton Carter pledged to keep immature technologies from progressing through the procurement system, demand realistic cost assessments and link investments to U.S. defense strategies.

Carter indicated in his testimony that troubled Pentagon programs could be in danger of cuts. Under questioning from senators, he vowed a militarywide program-by-program review to determine why some programs are over cost estimates and behind schedule.

President Barack Obama nominated Carter to serve as undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics on Feb. 23. Carter is a physicist and chair of the international and global affairs faculty at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. During the Clinton Administration, he served as assistant secretary of defense for international security policy from 1993 to 1996.

Carter would replace John Young, who has served since November 2007.