The C-5 Reliability Enhancement and Re-Engining Program is going to break the Nunn-McCurdy 15 percent cost overrun rule requiring a report to Congress, Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne said yesterday at AFA’s Air & Space Conference in Washington. The only reason the Air Force hasn’t made the notification to Congress is that it can’t settle yet on just how much of an overrun there is, he noted. A top USAF official reported a $6 billion difference of opinion between Air Force and Lockheed Martin cost estimates. Wynne said he’s asked the Pentagon’s Cost Analysis Improvement Group to help narrow the estimates, and Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley, who joined Wynne in a press session, said part of that effort will be to get agreement on basic assumptions. “We’re going to let Lockheed have their best shot to convince us” that their numbers are accurate, Wynne said, but even using the most optimistic assumptions, there will be a Nunn-McCurdy breach.
While the Space Force is still making long-term plans to establish high-fidelity live and virtual test and training ranges in the coming years, officials say they're also working with operators to identify near-term gaps and quickly field capabilities to address them.
