WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th February, 2019) The Department of Defense (DOD) must improve cost estimates for maintaining and upgrading software needed to run major US weapons to ensure adequate funding throughout a system's life cycle, the General Accountability Office (GAO) concluded in a report on Monday.
The report cited constant Air Force modifications of software on the B-52 bomber - now more than 60 years old - as one example to illustrate a need for accurate projections of future software costs.
"GAO found that the [DOD's] Office of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation's (CAPE) Cost and Software Data Reporting system did not collect weapon system cost data from DOD software centers," the report said.
During the audit, CAPE acknowledged that it lacks an implementation plan to execute and monitor the requirement for these centers to submit cost and software data, the release said.
DOD estimated that software sustainment funding will total at least $15 billion over the next 5 fiscal years, according to the release.
