Outside Wisdom posted on June 16, 2009 03:11
Returning from a one week holiday, I found the June 8th Aviation Week had an editorial titled "VH-71: Spending to Save." The cancellation of the presidential helicopter brought everyone out of the wood work. The article's key point was "failure to manage requirements on the part of the government is a key cause of the cancellation." What started out as a $6.8B program grew to a $13B program. The president was quoted as saying "The helicopter I have now seems perfectly adequate."
Marine One is actually a fleet of VH-3's and VH-60N's. Emphasis on "Fleet" since more than one is needed to move the president. That aside the management of requirements seems to be a common cause of failure in may programs these. Both in and out of government procurement.
So why is this?
Author: Glen B. Alleman
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