[July 07, 2008] GAO: Pentagon Does Not Commit To Weapons Funding Tweet (InvesTrend Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) July 7, 2008 (FinancialWire) The Pentagon has not fully funded weapons programs led by SACI (NYSE: SAI) (Current Market Cap: US$8.46 Bil.), Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), and Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC), according to a government audit. In a follow-on report released Thursday, the Government Accountability Office reviewed 20 of the Pentagon's 95 major weapon programs, including Lockheed Martin s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the Army's $160 billion combat modernization program led by Boeing and SAIC, and Northrop Grumman s Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle. The GAO said that more than 75% of the programs reviewed were not fully funded in the Pentagon's long-term investments strategy. To compensate for funding shortfalls, the Pentagon shifted money between programs, deferred work and associated costs into future years, or reduced the quantity of its purchase. The department's "flawed funding process is largely driven by decision makers' willingness to accept unrealistic cost estimates and DOD's commitment to more programs than it can support," the GAO said in its report, which echoed findings released last year. FinancialWire is a fully independent, proprietary news wire service of Investrend Information, a division of Investrend Communications, Inc. It is not a press release service and receives no compensation from any company for its news or opinions. All FinancialWire news is available at http://www.financialwire.net . The FinancialWire NewsFeed is available in multiple formats at http://www.investrend.com/XmlFeeds?level=268 . Please address any inquiries to [email protected] . Free annual reports for companies mentioned in the news are available at http://investrend.ar.wilink.com/?level=279 . (Distributed for Investrend Communications, Inc. via M2 Communications Ltd (www.m2.com)) Copyright ? 2008 M2 Communications Ltd. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]