July 2005

And More...

Continued from page 2

By TR and Freelance writers

Defense
R Deficit = D Inflation

The cost of developing new weapons systems is on the rise, and the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) blames a too early emphasis on product development. The GAO evaluated 54 defense projects and found that just 15 percent had a sufficient scientific basis when they were initiated. The GAO's estimates of the R&D costs of 26 projects (those that had enough financial data available to analyze) were 42 percent higher than initial estimates -- an increase from 21 percent to 26 percent of total costs.