Rapid Fire March 21, 2012: GAO JSF BFF

* In advance of a more thorough review, the GAO(Government Accountability Office) published a report listing the various ways the JSF program is late and over budget: “Cost overruns on the first four annual procurement contracts total more than $1 billion and aircraft deliveries are on average more than one year late. Officials said the government’s share of the cost growth is $672 million; this adds about $11 million on average to the price of each of the 63 aircraft under those contracts.” * These GAO reports will be read closely in Senate where some are not convinced the F-35B should have been taken off probation. Meanwhile Air Force Secretary Michael Donley told the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) there was “no more money to put against contract overruns or problems” with the JSF program. * That said, before cutting weapon programs or troops (whether active or reserve duty), some of the same skeptical Senators would rather act on another GAO report that highlighted many inefficient or overlapping initiatives. * The HASC panel on business challenges in the defense industry released its findings [PDF]. They found plenty of challenges indeed, especially for small businesses. * Rheinmetall reached [PDF] 4.45 billion […]