Comparison of the Pershing II Program with the Acquisition Plan Recommended by the Commission on Government Procurement

The Commission on Government Procurement recommended a new plan for acquiring major weapons systems and other major systems which has become the basis for a revised policy in procurement for all executive agencies. The Department of Defense suggested that the Pershing II program came close to the recommended procedures.

The Pershing II program is not similar to the Commission's plan and is characteristic of the acquisition process the Commission was trying to reform. Army efforts to find a solution to the need the Pershing II is addressing have always been directed toward a surface-to-surface missile. Also, the Army's efforts to define and explore the Pershing II concept began without the Secretary of Defense involvement that the Commission envisioned. Under the Commission's plan, different technological approaches would have been solicited from industry, and industry would have explored selected alternatives before a specific system was selected.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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