us debt troubles..views on defence plays, page-5

Extract from yesterday's news
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REWARDING EFFICIENCY

Gates and Carter said the changes were aimed at increasing the focus on real competition, cutting Defense Department bureaucracy, accelerating timelines for new programs and providing incentives for innovation and productivity.

"This program will reward those contractors that have demonstrated superior performance in delivering quality products and services affordably and on time," Gates said.

He said the new rules were already being used to cut the cost of a Navy ballistic missile submarine to $5 billion from $7 billion, and would pay dividends on the Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter, now projected to cost $382 billion.

Carter said the rules would focus heavily on the Pentagon's use of service contractors, which accounts for as much as it spends on weapons