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The US House of Representatives unveiled the Weapons Acquisition System Reform through Enhancing Technical Knowledge and Oversight (WASTE TKO) Act, aimed at controlling the cost of future acquisition programs. The bill, which covers about 20 percent of Pentagon acquisition process, also expects that the defence companies would bear the cost of developing alternative weapons while the Pentagon would only pay the developmental costs.
The other features of the bill include the appointment of a principal adviser at the Pentagon to oversee the functions of cost estimation, systems engineering and performance assessment for major weapons; granting of full authority to the cost overseer for selecting confidence levels for major weapons cost estimates and access to all cost-related records; constant reviews of the performance and technological maturity of major weapons under development; and ensuring competition through a program's lifetime at the prime and subcontract level1.