SASC Statement on Air Force's Decision to Cancel AOC 10.2 Modernization Contract

Washington, D.C. – Today, the Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Ranking Member Jack Reed (D-R.I.) released the following statement on the Air Force’s decision to cancel the AOC 10.2 modernization contract:

“We commend the Air Force for terminating the contract to modernize the Air and Space Operations Center (AOC) 10.2 and initiate a pathfinder approach to deliver the needed capabilities much faster to the warfighter. In recent years, Congress has taken steps to improve the Pentagon’s acquisition system, especially by holding the Services more accountable for delivering systems within cost and schedule. The Air Force’s decision is an important demonstration of what accountability in the acquisition process can and should look like.

“At the same time, it is unfortunate that the Air Force had already spent more than half a billion dollars over the last ten years on the AOC 10.2 upgrade, and yet the program has not delivered any meaningful capability. Even more unfortunately, this program is only one example of the Department’s troubling record on software-intensive systems. To address this problem, the Senate Armed Services Committee included provisions in the FY18 National Defense Authorization Act that would direct the Department to identify several of its most challenging software-intensive investments and realign those programs to deliver smaller increments of capability cheaper, faster, and more frequently.

“The committee will continue to work with the Pentagon to ensure that all defense dollars are spent wisely and effectively.”

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