Gasp! Military Cost Over-Runs

Government Computer News reports that cost over-runs on software projects are a problem at the Department of Defense. Anyway, from the article:

The problem is huge. In fiscal 2006, the Defense Department will spend as much as $12 billion on reworking software—30 percent of its estimated budget of $40 billion for research, development, testing and evaluation. By comparison, Motorola—and other large commercial companies—spends just a small percent of its budget on rework. Nor can the significance of the problem be overlooked. In its summary for 2006, Assessments of Selected Major Weapon Programs (GCN.com, Quickfind 605), GAO pointed out that, in the past five years, “DOD has doubled its planned investments in new weapons systems from $700 [billion] to $1.4 trillion. This huge increase has not been accompanied by more stability, better outcomes or more buying power for the acquisition dollar.”

Ummmm….is this some sort of news or a surprise? Hellllllo… I don’t think so.