ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the Thatcher government's rationale for the changes, critically analyses its perception of why the procurement process failed and explores the many other problems that made the efficient management of weapons acquisition such a problem; particularly in the realm of major defence projects. Initial efforts made by the Thatcher government to control defence costs through the equipment programme were meant to support rather than replace the 1981 Defence Review. Industry was also to be given a greater degree of control over the management of a project through greater use of prime contractors. Government proposals envisaged an even more extensive use of fixed price contracts as a way of promoting cost consciousness within industry. Ideally, industry wanted requirements to be defined in very broad terms allowing greater scope for unsolicited bids which did not necessarily comply with the specification. Defining or achieving a balance between performance and cost is extremely difficult to do in the realm of weapons procurement.
