WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US Department of Defense (DOD) spending on major weapons programs sunk to its lowest level in a decade, according to a US Government Accountability Office (GAO) report.
“Over the past year, the overall size of DOD's major defense acquisition program portfolio decreased, from 80 programs to 78, while the estimated cost has decreased by $7.6 billion,” the report, released on Thursday, said. “The size and cost of the portfolio is currently the lowest in a decade.”
The decline was primarily driven by significant decreases in unit quantities of two programs, the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) and the Warfighter Information Network (WIN), according to the report.
The US Navy’s LCS program, which consists of ships that perform mine countermeasures and antisubmarine and surface warfare missions, was reduced by twenty units, the GAO said.
In contrast, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program experienced $4.3 billion in cost increases, despite flat order quantities, signifying a drop in purchasing leverage, the report explained.
“The F-35, the costliest program in the portfolio, epitomizes this loss in buying power as its costs have risen over the past year without any change in quantity, meaning it is paying more for the same amount of capability,” the GAO said.
According to the DOD, defense spending overall will be cut by ten percent until 2021, under the defense-related provisions of sequestration, which will result in $487 billion in cost savings.
The US military budget has declined from its peak of nearly $700 billion in 2010, according to DOD data.
