Summary: Faced with substantial funding cuts for defense procurement, the Pentagon has made acquisition reform a top priority. The challenge for the Defense Department (DOD) is to maintain technological superiority and ensure a strong national industrial base while reducing acquisition costs. The need to reform the military's acquisition system is well known; however, acquisition reform has been an elusive goal. DOD has on several occasions tried to introduce a commercial-style procurement system that would take advantage of commercial products and processes and, whenever possible, eliminate contracting, technical, and accounting requirements that are unique to the military. According to DOD, acquisition reform could cut costs by as much as 30 percent. This report discusses a pilot program, known as "Military Products From Commercial Lines," set up by the Air Force with one of its contractors. GAO evaluates the pilot program to determine (1) its potential for producing the benefits sought through reform and (2) any barriers to achieving these benefits.
