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National Defense September 2011 Sandra I. Erwin |
As Pressure Grows to Cut Spending, the True Cost of Weapons Is Anyone's Guess A decade of soaring Pentagon spending is coming to an end, and it is leaving behind considerable fiscal wreckage. |
National Defense September 2012 Sandra I. Erwin |
Next Pentagon Procurement 'Bow Wave' Will Be a Tsunami With the Defense Department now facing a precipitous drop in new equipment purchases over the next two years, the green-eyeshade crowd already is predicting a huge bow wave for 2018 and beyond, which could be the biggest one yet. |
National Defense March 2012 Sandra I. Erwin |
The Coming Decade: A Slowdown In Spending, but No 'Procurement Holiday' Even under the worst-case scenario, defense budgets in the coming decade will be larger than they were in the last year of the Bush administration. |
National Defense October 2011 Sandra I. Erwin |
Fears of the Incredibly Shrinking Defense Budget May Be Overblown A defense industry apocalypse is not here yet: Everyone in Washington is always in favor of savings in the abstract but when they see the particulars, they tend to get cold feet. |
National Defense April 2013 Sandra I. Erwin |
Pentagon, Contractors Clash Over Profits The pressure is on at the Pentagon to bring down the cost of military hardware. The dictum from acquisitions chief Frank Kendall is that "unaffordable" programs will be axed. |
National Defense January 2012 Sandra I. Erwin |
Budget Squeeze Could Spur Defense Industry Shakeup To borrow a line from Casey at the Bat, there is no joy in Mudville. Defense industry executives, with good reason, are experiencing considerable anxiety as Pentagon budget cuts lurk around the corner. |
National Defense March 2014 Sandra I. Erwin |
In '15 Budget, Red Flags for Contractors If defense industry CEOs can draw any conclusion from the Pentagon's 2015 budget proposal it is that, except for the too-big-to-fail joint strike fighter, most of the military's modernization plan is on shaky ground. |
National Defense April 2011 Sandra I. Erwin |
Contractors Advised to Focus Less On Stock Prices, More on Customers Pentagon contractors will have to think differently about their business if they want to maintain or improve the financial performance they have enjoyed over the past decade, insiders say. |
National Defense November 2009 Sandra I. Erwin |
Among Pentagon Buyers, Much Angst About IT The Pentagon procurement system treats information technology as if it were a weapon system, and may take a decade to acquire. By the time the technology is fielded, it is five generations too old. |
National Defense September 2006 Sandra I. Erwin |
Reform Agenda Targets Acquisition Workforce The Pentagon's cadre of "professional shoppers" could see a wave of reforms in the coming years, as the Defense Department remains under unrelenting pressure to fix its buying practices. |
National Defense April 2007 Sandra I. Erwin |
Pentagon Begins Broad Review Of Acquisition Workforce Skills The Pentagon has launched an extensive evaluation of military acquisition and contracting personnel in order to gauge their skills and competence. |
National Defense July 2013 Sandra I. Erwin |
Pentagon Tries to Recapture Tech Glory Days After spending $50 billion over the past decade on failed weapons programs, the Pentagon is grasping for answers. Assorted procurement reforms have been tried, but they have delivered only marginal results. |
National Defense June 2012 Sandra I. Erwin |
For Defense Industry, Lure of Shiny Objects Rapidly Fading The erstwhile dependable moneymakers in the defense industry no longer look like safe bets. Big-ticket weapon systems are being delayed, terminated, investigated or mired in endless reviews. |
National Defense November 2006 Sandra I. Erwin |
Industry Fortune Tellers See a Mix of Boom and Bust For the defense industry, depending on whom you talk to, these are the best of times, and the worst of times. |
National Defense November 2013 Sandra I. Erwin |
Companies See Bright Spots in Bleak Market There are still companies that have the stomach to invest in defense. Some actually view these tough times as an opportunity to win new business. |
National Defense June 2007 Sandra I. Erwin |
More Services, Less Hardware Define Current Military Buildup In the midst of the largest military expansion since the Reagan administration, industry analysts warn that the gravy days cannot last much longer. |
National Defense December 2015 Sandra I. Erwin |
Mighty Pentagon Can't Deny Market Forces Market forces are such that the Defense Department could be headed toward a future of greater dependence on fewer and increasingly more powerful monopolies. |
National Defense November 2011 Sandra I. Erwin |
Managing the Defense Industry: Stalinism or Smart Business? America's arms manufacturers are asking the Pentagon to step up and protect the industry from an imminent collapse. |
National Defense July 2012 Sandra I. Erwin |
Defense Industry Targets $150B Weapons Maintenance Market Operations and support, or operations and sustainment, is military-speak for the unglamorous work of maintaining, refurbishing and overhauling Pentagon hardware, some of which is decades old. |
National Defense May 2008 Sandra I. Erwin |
Weapons Budget: The More You Spend, The Less You Buy A hyperinflation tsunami now threatens to sink the Defense Department's purchasing power so dramatically that a weapons budget that currently funds 95 programs will pay for just a handful of big-ticket programs |
National Defense June 2009 Sandra I. Erwin |
Expand Work Force Based on Quality, Not Quantity, Warns Former Pentagon official The Defense Department should be careful in how it goes about expanding its acquisition work force |
National Defense January 2010 Sandra I. Erwin |
Acquisition Reform Act: The Backlash Has Begun It's only been seven months since President Obama signed the Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009. Predictably, a chorus of disapproval already is being heard. |
National Defense November 2009 Sandra I. Erwin |
Industrial Policy Debate: Should The Pentagon Pick Winners and Losers? Industry executives and trade associations have called for the Defense Department to take preemptive action to protect key sectors that are considered of strategic importance to national security. |
National Defense February 2013 Sandra I. Erwin |
Less Money, But Still Business As Usual As the dust begins to settle to reveal a leaner defense budget, Pentagon contractors are strategizing for the new business environment. They also will be parsing the latest batch of Pentagon policies designed to turn around failing weapon acquisition programs. |
National Defense April 2006 Sandra Erwin |
Defense Procurement: Hard Decisions `Kicked Down the Road' Will the escalating costs of the war in Iraq and the rising price tags of weapon systems eventually result in the cliched Defense Department budget train wreck so many analysts have predicted for several years now? |
National Defense March 2005 Lawrence P. Farrell Jr. |
The Budget Realities We Must Face As Congress deliberates at length on the fine points of the Bush administration's fiscal year 2006 budget request for the Defense Department, it may be an appropriate time to take a broader look at the potential implications of the Pentagon's spending plan. |
National Defense May 2014 Sandra I. Erwin |
Should the Pentagon Rescue Ailing Suppliers? It is an inevitable consequence of plunging budget cycles that suppliers go out of business, and the Pentagon typically has favored a laissez-faire industrial policy even though the defense sector is far from a free market. |
National Defense July 2012 Sandra I. Erwin |
Pentagon Contractors Reach New Levels of Frustration With Obama White House Over the past nine to 10 months, corporations have begun to lose confidence in government, and executives are faulting the president for not doing more to untangle the current morass that could leave many contractors sinking in the muck. |
National Defense June 2009 Sandra I. Erwin |
Defense Industry: What Does Change Really Mean? The defense industry is unsure how they will be affected by revamped procurement practices promised by the Pentagon. |
National Defense January 2010 Sandra I. Erwin |
Pentagon Must Avert 'Points of Failure' in Supplier Base, Says Industrial Policy Chief With the U.S. military still involved in two major conflicts, the Defense Department must ensure that certain sectors of the defense industry remain financially healthy. |
National Defense May 2009 Sandra I. Erwin |
Gates: Industry Unharmed By Program Cancellations The Pentagon needs to stop buying "exquisite" technology that does not meet real military needs in favor of larger quantities of critical items. |
National Defense March 2013 Sandra I. Erwin |
Industry and Government Butt Heads Over Weapons Maintenance Contracts Repairing and maintaining decades-old inventory has been big business for the defense industry, and will continue to be despite funding cuts that will hit the Pentagon over the next several years. |
National Defense March 2007 Lawrence P. Farrell |
Defense Budget Sets Stage for Tough Choices Ahead As Congress continues to dissect the details of the Bush administration's proposed defense budget for fiscal year 2008, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the nation's military faces a worrisome financial future. |
National Defense December 2007 Sandra I. Erwin |
For Contractors in War Zones, Business Will Keep Growing The constant sniping in Washington about military contractors ignores the inescapable conclusion that the privatization of government functions not only is here to stay, but is going to get bigger. |
National Defense July 2011 Sandra I. Erwin |
Procurement Blues: After a Decade Of Largesse, Not Much to Show for It After a decade of lavish spending, the Pentagon is now left with an aging fleet of weapon systems, an overstrained force, out-of-control personnel and healthcare costs, and no idea of how to prepare for tomorrow's wars. |
National Defense May 2013 Sandra I. Erwin |
Firms Think Twice Before Investing in DoD The Pentagon needs to get creative as it plans the weapons of the future, officials have said, and it needs private-sector help. |
National Defense August 2012 Sandra I. Erwin |
War Over Defense Jobs Diverts Attention From Bloated Spending Each branch of the military owns multiple fleets of surveillance and armed drones, creating unneeded duplication. |
National Defense September 2014 |
Readers Sound Off on Recent Stories Problems in DoD Acquisitions... Budget Fights... Nonlethal Weapons... |
National Defense June 2013 Sandra I. Erwin |
Contractors Face Fight-or-Flight Decisions The defense industry has only just begun to feel the sequester bite. Most of the top players continue to prosper even in a down market. Many companies in mid and lower tiers of the defense supply chain will likely be either financially unable or unwilling to weather the storm. |
National Defense August 2005 Sandra I. Erwin |
Looming Budget Cutbacks Underpin Defense Strategy How long the fighting in Iraq will last is anyone's guess. It seems quite certain, however, that mounting war costs will be wreaking financial havoc on many of the military's prized weapon systems. Are decision makers at the Pentagon guilty of shortsightedness? |
National Defense November 2010 Sandra I. Erwin |
Defense Downturn Sets Off Mergers, And a Search for Non-U.S. Customers The defense industry is wasting no time to maneuver into position for the coming downturn in spending. |
National Defense February 2016 Sandra I. Erwin |
CEOs Not Yet Ready to Take a Gamble Defense executives don't have clear answers as they weigh investment choices in an uncertain market. |
National Defense January 2008 Sandra I. Erwin |
Bigger Budgets Disguise Larger Fiscal Dilemmas Nowhere is the financial outlook for the Defense Department more uncertain than in the procurement budget. |
The Motley Fool December 7, 2005 Brian Gorman |
Is Defense Safe? Recent news from the Pentagon looks positive for the industry, but investors shouldn't be quick to assume they've dodged a bullet. |
National Defense May 2015 Sandra I. Erwin |
Procurement Issues That Congress Won't Fix The new foreign policy mantra in Washington is that the world is on fire. The nation's weapons procurement machine, meanwhile, keeps partying like it's 1999. |
National Defense April 2015 Sandra I. Erwin |
Defense Technology At a Crossroads: Can the Pentagon Regain Its Innovation Mojo? The Defense Department may never become the technological juggernaut it once was, but with the groundbreaking innovation happening in the private sector, the challenge for the Pentagon is to tap emerging technology. |
National Defense June 2008 Sandra I. Erwin |
Despite SecDef Pleas, Pentagon Is Losing the Innovation War As a result of not knowing what technologies are available, the military ends up with systems that become obsolete within a few years. |
National Defense May 2010 Sandra I. Erwin |
Without Radical Change, Many More Defense Programs Will End Up Like JSF The breathless hype over the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter's soaring costs and schedule slips clouds a much bigger acquisition predicament for the Pentagon: How to stop more programs from ending up like JSF. |
National Defense January 2015 Sandra Erwin |
Wall Street Keeps Wary Eye on Defense Biz As companies defy gravity by slashing expenses and returning cash to shareholders, they continue to puzzle Wall Street analysts and financiers. Nobody knows if or when investors will begin to retreat, but so far financial experts continue to be favorably surprised by the performance of Pentagon contractors. |
National Defense July 2014 Sandra I. Erwin |
Hope and Despair in Government Procurement It's crunch time for acquisition reformers as they face a July deadline to submit recommendations to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees. |