Space Acquisitions: DOD Needs to Take More Action to Address Unrealistic Initial Cost Estimates of Space Systems
GAO-07-96
Published: Nov 17, 2006. Publicly Released: Nov 17, 2006.
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Highlights
Estimated costs for the Department of Defense's (DOD) major space acquisition programs have increased by about $12.2 billion from initial estimates for fiscal years 2006 through 2011. Cost growth for ongoing Air Force programs above initial estimates accounts for a substantial portion of this 44 percent increase. In light of the role that optimistic estimating is believed to have played in exacerbating space acquisition cost growth, you requested that we examine (1) in what areas space system acquisition cost estimates have been unrealistic and (2) what incentives and pressures have contributed to the quality and usefulness of cost estimates for space system acquisitions.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | To increase accountability and transparency of decisions in space programs where an independent estimate produced by the Cost Analysis Improvement Group (CAIG) or the Air Force Cost Analysis Agency (AFCAA) is not chosen, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics or the Secretary of the Air Force, as appropriate, to require officials involved in milestone decisions to document and justify the reasons for their choice and the differences between the program cost estimate and the independent cost estimate. |
DOD partially concurred with this recommendation, and stated in its comments that at both the development and the production Milestones for all ACAT I programs U.S.C. Title 10 - Armed Forces requires the Milestone Decision Authority (MDA) [USD(AT&L)] to be informed by an independently developed life cycle cost estimate before making a decision on how to proceed. DOD also stated that the OSD CAIG is charged with developing this estimate and, in practice, present its findings to the Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) when they meet to advise the MDA. According to DOD, the OSD CAIG formally documents its Independent Cost Estimate (ICE) in a report to the MDA. DOD also stated that the complex decision to determine the cost figure used as a basis for funding and to evaluate future program performance must weigh many competing factors that are often qualitative in nature. DOD concluded that as with all other acquisition related decisions, the decision is the MDA's alone, and although thoroughly discussed with the MDA advisers during the DAB meeting and clearly documented in the Acquisition Decision Memorandum, documenting the explicit justification will reduce the MDA's future decision-making flexibility.
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| Department of Defense | To better ensure investment decisions for space programs are knowledge-based, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics or the Secretary of the Air Force, as appropriate, to instill processes and tools necessary to ensure lessons learned are incorporated into future estimates. This could include conducting postmortem reviews of past space program cost estimates (program office and independent cost estimates) to measure cost-estimating effectiveness and to track and record cost-estimating mistakes; developing a centralized cost-estimating database that provides realistic and credible data to cost estimators; establishing protocols by which cost estimators working with the National Reconnaissance Office can share data with the DOD space cost-estimating community while still maintaining appropriate security over classified data; and ensuring estimates are updated as major events occur within a program that could have a material impact on cost, such as budget reductions, integration problems, hardware/software quality problems, and so forth. |
The Office of the Secretary of Defense Cost Analysis Improvement Group (OSD CAIG) conducts peer reviews of program office cost estimates with the national security space cost analysis community. This has been ongoing effort inside the OSD CAIG, the result of which is the OSD CAIG independent cost estimate (ICE) memorandum signed by the Chairman of the OSD CAIG to the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics)(USD(AT&L)). DOD Instruction 5000.4-M contains the documented process on preparation of ICE memorandums. Additional guidance on cost positions for milestone reviews has been recently issued by the Chairman, OSD CAIG and Director, OUSD (AT&L)/Acquisition Resources and Analysis. The CAIG also collects cost data, facilitated by the Defense Cost and Resource Center (DCARC), which collects current and historical cost data and makes those data available to government analysts. All earned value management system reporting is also now being collected by DCARC. In addition, AT&L in a memorandum dated 1/9/09, directed all programs to submit their cost data in a standardized work breakdown structure. The OSD CAIG has also given $300,000 to the National Reconnaissance Office Cost Group to set a standard for their work breakdown structure and data collection to implement the same tracking, searching and accessing of documents that DCARC currently provides. Finally, in an Air Force policy directive issued 8/5/08, program cost estimates and non-advocate cost assessments for Acquisition Category (ACAT) I programs and selected ACAT II and III programs are to be updated annually and used to support milestone decisions, budget formulation, source selections, program and unit cost breaches, and analysis of alternatives on program expected to meet ACAT I thresholds.
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| Department of Defense | To optimize analysis and collaboration within the space cost-estimating community, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics or the Secretary of the Air Force, as appropriate, to clearly articulate the roles and responsibilities of the various Air Force cost-estimating organizations, and ensure that space system cost estimators are organized so that the Air Force can gain the most from their knowledge and expertise. In taking these actions for programs for which no independent estimate is developed by the CAIG, consider assigning AFCAA the responsibility for the development of independent cost estimates for space system acquisitions, since it is outside of the acquisition chain of command and therefore likely to be unbiased and not pressured to produce optimistic estimates. |
On August 8, 2007, the Under Secretary of the Air Force issued a cost estimating guidance memorandum. The memorandum clearly defines the roles and responsibilities of the Air Force Deputy Assistant Secretary for Cost and Economics (which includes the Air Force Cost Analysis Agency) in providing non-advocate cost assessments in support of acquisition and budget decisions. In addition, the memorandum directs the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Cost and Economics to develop and administer cost analysis policy and guidance, standards and templates, training and education, and to maintain an historical cost database. We believe that all of these actions will increase collaboration within the cost-estimating community and allow the Air Force to benefit from the cost estimators' knowledge and expertise.
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Topics
AccountabilityCost analysisCost overrunsDefense cost controlDefense procurementProcurement planningProgram evaluationProgram managementStrategic planningAerospace researchCost estimates