• About
    • Mission
    • Biographical Information
    • Contact Us
  • Defense
  • Energy
  • Logistics
  • Innovation
  • In the News
  • Follow
  • Like
  • Linkedin
  • Youtube
October 2, 2018Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D

← Back
← Previous Post
Next Post →

Could Air Force Bargain Hunting In Weapons Competitions Backfire? (From Forbes)

October 2, 2018Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D

The Air Force seems to have gotten a good deal on its next-generation training system, awarding the program to Boeing for a price that is less than half of what the program was expected to cost.  It got a similar deal only days earlier from a Boeing-Leonardo team for helicopters used in securing missile fields.  But is there a danger is driving competitively-sourced weapons prices to the lowest possible level?  Boeing has barely begun to deliver the Air Force’s aggressively-priced KC-46 tankers, and it already has had to eat billions of dollars in unexpected costs.  Northrop Grumman bid so low on the contract to build next-gen bombers for the Air Force that it is easy to imagine the program going haywire once it reaches low-rate production.  The Air Force may be paying too much attention to price, and too little to risk.  I have written a commentary for Forbes here.

Print | PDF | EMail

Find Archived Articles:

This entry was posted in Defense. Bookmark the permalink.
Sign Up For
LexNext Emails
1600 Wilson Boulevard - Suite 203
Arlington, VA 22209 USA
Phone: 703.522.5828
Fax: 703.522.5837
© 2023 Lexington Institute

Sign Up for LexNext Emails

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Sign Up for LexNext Emails

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.