Americas Defense Meltdown - IT Acquisition Advisory Council

200 • Long in Coming, the Acquisition Train Wreck is Hereand $233.9 billion (in then-year dollars), which is substantially higher than theArmy’s $160.9 billion figure. The Army has refused to reconcile the numbers offeredfrom IDA and CAIG, arguing that their estimates for software costs were toohigh and that they included additional work in the later years of development.”“The Army’s $160.9 billion projection is a 76-percent increase from the original$91.4 billion estimate. It is worth noting that, in 2006, 4 of the 18 systems werecut, but the $160 billion price tag stayed approximately the same; this wasthe second program restructuring. FY 2009 marks the first year of a plannedfunding shift: funds for RDT&E will start to decrease and costs for procurementwill increase, respectively, $3.2 billion and $331 million.As RDT&E concludes and procurement starts to take over, between years2015 and 2022, the Army is projected to spend at least $10 billion a year onprocurement for FCS, with CBO estimating this figure may reach $16 billionper year. The Army is projected to receive $20 billion a year for procurementfor the entire service during these years. If the Army spends $10-16 billion onFCS each year, only $4-10 billion is left for all of the service’s other procurementand modernization priorities.FCS success depends on at least 50 complementary programs that are developingaccording to their own schedules and budgets and technological challengesoutside of the FCS program itself. Three notable programs are the Joint TacticalRadio System (JTRS), Warfighter Information Network – Tactical (WIN-T) andthe Air Force Transformational Satellite Communications Program (TSAT).These programs have an estimated combined cost of $80 billion, up $29 billionfrom their original estimates. Problems with these programs pose a significantrisk to the FCS program.”The Army appears to be mesmerized by the false promises of future technologicaladvances that are coming at the expense of its critical near-term capitalizationor “reset” needs. More than five years of simultaneous wars in Iraq and Afghanistanhave ground down our aging military equipment, particularly that of our groundforces. For example, Humvees travel as much as 100,000 miles per year in Iraq, fivetimes the planned peacetime rate. Heavy armor further adds to the strain on theirengines and axles.“We must reset, reconstitute, and revitalize our ground forces,” Admiral MichaelMullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated before a Senate hearing in May2008. Army estimates of the funding needed to re-equip itself range up to $17 billionannually, for as many as three years after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan end. 6