A
AALARD
Guest
AIA wants dialogue on Defense cost cutting
WASHINGTON, (UPI) -- The Pentagon's $100 billion, 5-year cost-cutting effort won a cautious nod of approval for intent from the Aerospace Industries Association.
The association of manufacturers and service providers to the U.S. Department of Defense said it welcomed dialogue on cutting costs in the defense acquisition process while maintaining a strong and healthy defense industry.
"We are pleased that the department is taking a comprehensive look at what drives up costs in government procurements," it said. "One of the most significant challenges faced in reducing costs is that the government continues to impose new government-unique contracting regulations that as early as 1994 were estimated by Coopers and Lybrand to increase the cost of products that (the Defense Department) buys by 18 percent."
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Ashton Carter, the Pentagon's acquisition chief, met Monday with executives of defense contracting firms and with military procurement leaders. They asked contractors and procurers to identify unnecessary overhead and help restore affordability to programs.
They said that as part of the cost-reduction initiative, the Pentagon would look at various contracting options. Among them would be the possibility of fix-rate contracts in which producers would shoulder cost overruns, news reports said.
"It's not about reducing profit," Carter said at a news briefing. "It is about reducing cost."
The AIA said the Coopers and Lybrand report should be updated and be used as a fact-based position for cost-reducing decision making; that the export control regime be reformed to include more efficient licensing management while ensuring protection of technology; and that legislation that uses "the acquisition process to promote policy initiatives" rather than obtaining the best products at the best prices be changed.
WASHINGTON, (UPI) -- The Pentagon's $100 billion, 5-year cost-cutting effort won a cautious nod of approval for intent from the Aerospace Industries Association.
The association of manufacturers and service providers to the U.S. Department of Defense said it welcomed dialogue on cutting costs in the defense acquisition process while maintaining a strong and healthy defense industry.
"We are pleased that the department is taking a comprehensive look at what drives up costs in government procurements," it said. "One of the most significant challenges faced in reducing costs is that the government continues to impose new government-unique contracting regulations that as early as 1994 were estimated by Coopers and Lybrand to increase the cost of products that (the Defense Department) buys by 18 percent."
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Ashton Carter, the Pentagon's acquisition chief, met Monday with executives of defense contracting firms and with military procurement leaders. They asked contractors and procurers to identify unnecessary overhead and help restore affordability to programs.
They said that as part of the cost-reduction initiative, the Pentagon would look at various contracting options. Among them would be the possibility of fix-rate contracts in which producers would shoulder cost overruns, news reports said.
"It's not about reducing profit," Carter said at a news briefing. "It is about reducing cost."
The AIA said the Coopers and Lybrand report should be updated and be used as a fact-based position for cost-reducing decision making; that the export control regime be reformed to include more efficient licensing management while ensuring protection of technology; and that legislation that uses "the acquisition process to promote policy initiatives" rather than obtaining the best products at the best prices be changed.