Summary

In 1972, the Commission on Government Procurement recommended a new plan for the acquisition of 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 NAVSTAR Global Positioning System resembled the Commission's recommendations.

The evolution of the NAVSTAR Program resembled the Commission's recommendations only slightly. The NAVSTAR system did not: (1) begin with a statement of mission capability, cost, and time goals stated independently of a specific system solution; (2) follow a Secretary of Defense assignment to a service or services for responding to a statement of needs and goals; (3) use industry initiative and innovativeness to identify alternative system concepts; and (4) maintain competition by exploring rival systems. However, the Office of the Secretary of Defense involvement in the identification and reconciliation of navigational needs was greater than the level of involvement criticized by the Commission.