GAO Calls for Review of Pentagon’s $15 Billion Rocket Buys
October 17, 2011
The U.S. Defense Department and National Reconnaissance Office plan to spend $15 billion on rocket booster cores without enough information to determine whether they're getting a "fair and reasonable" price, according to government auditors.
A Government Accountability Office report released today questioned aspects of an Air Force and National Reconnaissance Office plan to buy eight booster cores a year from fiscal 2013 to 2017, a total of 40, to stabilize production. The booster core is the main component of a rocket.
"Some subcontractor data needed to negotiate fair and reasonable prices are lacking," according to the report prepared for Representative C.W. Bill Young, a Republican from Florida, and Representative Norm Dicks, a Democrat from Washington. Young is the chairman of the House Appropriations Defense subcommittee and Dicks is the panel's top Democratic member.