GAO: Big ticket programs face cost overruns

The General Accountability Office has singled out the Pentagon’s Future Combat Systems and Joint Strike Fighter as programs in which costs might be going well beyond initial estimates, reports the Associated Press.

The reports released March 12 by the government watchdog agency concluded that the Army is moving forward with the $159 billion FCS program even though some of its technology is unproven and over budget. The JSF program, which could ultimately cost $1 trillion to build and maintain roughly 2,500 planes, will face even higher costs if the Pentagon accelerates the program while testing continues.

The two are among the largest weapons contracts ever awarded by the Defense Department, and are potential targets for budget cuts as pressure grows on the military to lower spending as the government devotes trillions of dollars to the financial crisis.

In its report on the FCS program, the GAO pointed to the “immaturity” in the program, such as a shortage of real-life tests and unknowns about the effectiveness of the high-speed communication networks it will rely on. It also recommended that Congress not approve full funding for the FCS, until the military gives a complete picture of the budgets involved.