The Government Accountability Office (GAO) this week issued its annual report “Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs.”  The report concentrated on how well DoD is planning and executing its weapons programs.  This area of study has been on the GAO “high risk” list since the 1990s.  GAO reports that for the 42 systems selected, many continue at high risk for cost growth and schedule delays.  The report also states that a majority have experienced requirements changes, software challenges, or workforce issues that affect program stability and execution.  GAO is also critical of what it called DoD’s lack of regularly testing production prototypes before initiating production.  But, it does acknowledge that DoD is beginning to implement more prototype testing.  According to GAO, continuing this effort along with implementation of broad-based acquisition policy enhancements should improve the performance outcomes for DoD programs.