Rapid Fire: 2011-09-01 | Fraud, Waste in Iraq and Afghanistan

* The Commission on Wartime Contracting (CWC) formally submits Transforming Wartime Contracting – Controlling costs reducing risks [PDF] to Congress. The report says that at least $31 billion has been lost to contract waste and fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan, and offers 15 recommendations for contracting reform. * General David Petraeus uses his retirement speech (see video at the bottom of this entry) to pay tribute to those who steered the US military through its ‘hollow force’ era. Petraeus also emphasized the importance of safeguarding gains made in Iraq and Afghanistan against a backdrop of change in the Middle East and reduced defense expenditure. * Indian defence sources have outlined the ministry’s ‘flagrant violation’ of offset rules for a number of high-profile contracts. RAC MiG’s $964 million deal to upgrade India’s MiG-29 fighters and the purchase of Boeing C-17 Globemaster III heavy transport aircraft are among the contracts under the spotlight. * With reports that the sea trials for its first aircraft carrier proceeded ‘as expected’, China declares that the modernization of its armed forces will not alter the nation’s defensive security policies. China also continues to refute the Department of Defense’s (DoD) recent report [PDF], this time citing improved defense ties with India and Vietnam. * As the UK Ministry of Defence formally announces the first tranche of […]