United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office National Security and International Affairs Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2000-08-15 monographic deposited born digital 33 p. GA 1.13:NSIAD-00-178 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-00-178 P0b002ee1803a3691 f:ns00178 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-00-178 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-00-178 NSIAD-00-178 Air Force procurement Department of Defense contractors Defense cost control Cost analysis Financial management Fighter aircraft Joint Strike Fighter F-22 Raptor Aircraft Letter Report NSIAD

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Air Force F-22 Raptor production cost estimate, focusing on: (1) the status of cost reduction plans, including some plans not yet implemented, and Air Force procedures for reporting on the plans; and (2) a comparison of the 1999 production cost estimates with the congressional cost limitation.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) about half of the $21.0 billion in cost reductions identified by the F-22 contractors and program office have not yet been implemented; (2) however, the Air Force may not be able to achieve the expected results from some of the plans because they are beyond the Air Force's ability to control; (3) GAO reviewed 10 plans estimated to reduce costs by $6.8 billion; (4) GAO found that cost reductions for 4 of the plans, which accounted for $5.6 billion in potential cost reductions, may not be achievable because they were dependent on decisions or later determinations that must be made by the Office of the Secretary of Defense or Congress; (5) although the Air Force and its contractors have procedures to track the status of the production cost reduction plans, and the Air Force has reported quarterly to the Under Secretary of Defense concerning the total estimated cost of F-22 production, the Air Force reports have not regularly included a summary of the status of production cost reduction plans; (6) both Office of the Secretary and Air Force cost estimators projected F-22 production costs that exceeded the congressional cost limitation of $39.8 billion in effect at that time; (7) in 1999, after considering the potential of all the cost reduction plans, the Air Force estimated F-22 production cost at $40.8 billion, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense estimated production costs at $48.6 billion; (8) in comparing the cost estimates, GAO found that: (a) although both estimates were based on the production of 339 aircraft, the two estimating groups did not use the same estimating methods, nor did they make the same estimating assumptions; (b) the cost estimators did not make the same assumptions about which cost reduction plans were already implemented or about the cost reductions achievable from plans not yet implemented; (c) the Office of the Secretary's estimate of F-22 total production cost exceeded the Air Force's estimate by $7.8 billion, or 19 percent; (d) although Air Force cost estimators projected a total of $40.8 billion in production costs, the official Air Force cost position was $39.8 billion, the same as the congressional cost limitation; and (e) DOD officials noted that it will be some time before actual production cost trends emerge and before they will know whether the Air Force or the Secretary of Defense estimate is more realistic. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-00-178/html/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-00-178.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-00-178/pdf/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-00-178.pdf GAO/NSIAD-00-178 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-00-178 Letter Report GAO/NSIAD-00-178; Defense Acquisitions: Recent F-22 Production Cost; Air Force procurement Department of Defense contractors Defense cost control Cost analysis Financial management Fighter aircraft Joint Strike Fighter F-22 Raptor Aircraft Title 10 Section 2306b Title 10 Section 2464 Title 10 Section 2466 10 U.S.C. 2306b 10 U.S.C. 2464 10 U.S.C. 2466 Public Law 105-85