How To Win Campaign Friends In The Arms Industry

Make sure no-one does anything about it when their big earning weapons programs overun and are over budget by billions. The amounts involved beggar the imagination. I'm pretty certain you won't see this on Porkbusters...

From News.com.au:

A SURVEY of major US weapons development programs found an estimated $US23 billion in cost overruns and an average two years delay in reaching production, a government report said overnight.

The Government Accountability Office, a congressional audit agency, said that of 23 major weapons program that it reviewed, 10 had already reported cost overruns of greater than 30 per cent and production delays of at least a year.
Most of the other programs were still too early in the development cycle to be effectively analysed, it said.

The report noted that the Pentagon plans to spend $US1.3 trillion on weapons development and procurement from 2005 to 2009, $US800 million of which still lies ahead.

"If DoD (the Department of Defense) manages its current portfolio of weapons within traditional margins of error, the financial consequences could be dire," the GAO warned.

The Aerial Common Sensor, a next-generation electronic surveillance plane, was 45 percent over the initial cost and two years behind schedule.

The army's Future Combat System, a group of 15 networked manned and unmanned combat vehicles that are supposed to replace tanks and armoured vehicles, is 48 percent over the initial cost estimates and four years behind schedule.
The Joint Strike Fighter, a stealthy new fighter, was 30 percent over and 23 months behind.

The Global Hawk, an unmanned spy plane used in Iraq and Afghanistan, was 166 percent over cost, while the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, the latest version of the marines' amphibious combat vehicle, was 61 percent over initial cost estimates and four years behind schedule.

When it comes to handing out campaign money, you can be sure the weapons makers remember their friends in the GOP (as well as some Dems Called Joe) who helped them make $23 billion in money for nothing.