The Department of Defense is investing heavily in
procuring joint strike fighter aircraft before flight-
testing proves it will perform as expected, the Government
Accountability Office has said.
It said the program could benefit from the acquisition
approach used for the F-16 fighter.
The JSF program plans to produce 424 low-rate initial
production aircraft at a cost of more than $49 billion
by 2013, coinciding with when the program plans to
complete initial operational testing, but this approach
increases the likelihood of design changes that will
lead to cost growth, schedule delays, and performance
problems, according to GAO-06-356.
It said that since initial estimates, program unit costs
have increased 28 percent, or $23 million, development
costs have shot up 84 percent, planned purchases have
decreased by 535 aircraft, and the date of completion
has slipped five years.
Yet, with over 90 percent of the JSF investment yet to
come DoD officials have the opportunity to adopt a
knowledge-based, evolutionary acquisition strategy more
like the one used for the F-16, which evolved capabilities
over 30 years with an initial capability delivered within
four years after development started, according to the
report.
It said DoD policy prefers evolutionary approaches to
acquisition, but the JSF program has contracted to deliver
the aircraft’s full capability in a single, 12-year
development period, something GAO called a daunting task,
given the technological advances being incorporated into
the aircraft.
