Math Skills

After confirming last week that the Air Force had delivered to Congress inaccurate 10-year cost projections for the Long-Range Strike Bomber two years in a row, service Secretary Deborah Lee James said Monday that the Air Force has double-checked the other numbers in the report and believes them to be correct.

James told reporters during an Aug. 24 Pentagon briefing that the service has notified Congress of the error and is "counseling" those responsible for the mistake. The Air Force has also "tightened up the process of coordination" in an effort to help avoid future errors, she said.

As Inside the Air Force reported last week, the service delivered inaccurate LRSB cost projections to Congress in two consecutive annual reports. A fiscal year 2015 report pegged the bomber's 10-year cost at $33.1 billion, and an FY-16 project projected $58 billion. The actual number for both years was $41.7 billion.

James attributed the glitch to human error and a lack of accountability in the service's verification processes. She called the mistake "regrettable" and assured reporters it had been addressed.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh noted that the discrepancy was surprising to the service, but had little impact on its own internal planning. The service bases its budget planning on five-year projections, which Welsh confirmed were not affected by this error.

"The five-year number last year and this year was reported accurately," he said. "It was captured exactly accurately. That's what we're using on the air staff, and the updated projections and cost estimates are where the confusion came in."