We found three factors that comprise this ability. First,  developers employed systems engineering to identify gaps between  resources and customer wants before committing to a new product  development. Second, customers and product developers were flexible  before launch. Leeway existed to reduce expectations, defer them to future  programs, or to invest more resources up front to eliminate gaps between  resources and expectations. Third, the roles and responsibilities of the  customer and the product developer were balanced, with the product  developer given the responsibility to determine or significantly influence  product requirements. In cases where these factors were not present at  program launch, product development began with imbalanced product  requirements. The result was an imbalance between product requirements and  resources, which also resulted in cost and schedule increases. By this time, key features of the Crusader were defined. The best practices  for balancing needs and resources before committing to a new product or  weapon system development are to (1) conduct systems engineering to  illuminate what has to be done to match the wants with the resources;  (2) establish fixed cycle times for an initial product within an overall  evolutionary approach to foster flexibility needed to make key trade-offs;  and (3) maintain parity between requirement setters and product  developers when translating customer needs into product requirements.
What GAO Found

This report examines how best practices offer improvements to the way the Department of Defense defines and matches weapon system requirements to available resources such as cost, schedule, and mature technologies. GAO identified three factors that were key to matching needs and resources before product development began. First, developers employed the technique of systems engineering to identify gaps between resources and customer needs before committing to a new product development. Second, customers and developers were flexible. Leeway existed to reduce or defer customer needs to future programs or for the developer to make an investment to increase knowledge about a technology or design feature before beginning product development. Third, the roles and responsibilities of the customer and the product developer were matched, with the product developer being able to determine or significantly influence product requirements. In cases where these factors were not present at program launch, product development began without a match between requirements and resources. Invariably, this imbalance favored meeting customer needs by adding resources, which resulted in increased costs and later deliveries.