Managing Weapon System Software: Progress and Problems (Unclassified Digest of a Classified Report)

The Department of Defense (DOD) estimates that it spends over $3 billion annually for weapon system software, and the cost is steadily rising. However, software performance has often been unreliable because of serious technical and management problems with the way it is designed, developed, tested, and maintained. These problems increase weapon system life-cycle cost, extend development schedules, and degrade mission performance.