WASHINGTON -- The Air Force, charged with paying exhorbitant prices for spare parts, said Thursday it will change it method of buying spares beginning this fiscal year.
An Air Force announcement said implementation of eight recommendations to improve the purchasing system in both the near and long term is 'expected to increase competition and reduce costs.'
Pentagon auditors first charged during the summer that the Air Force and the Navy have wasted millions of dollars on spare parts that included buying a 4 cent diode for $110.
In the latest allegations, Senate aides said Tuesday the General Dynamics Corp. of Fort Worth, Texas, proposed to sell a 12-cent Allen wrench to the Air Force for $9,609 and two 3-inch steel pins for $7,417 apiece.
The new buying practices stem from recommendations made by the Air Force's own management analysis group that was formed in May after 'recurring problems with the competition and purchase prices of spare parts' was discovered, the announcement said.
Among the recommendations to be instituted in the year that began Oct. 1 are:
-'Review the price of every item for price reasonableness.'
-'Screen items for increased competition among various manufacturers.'
-Eliminate purchases of many parts in low quantities and buy them in a single, annual order 'to obtain quantity discounts.'
-Establish a dialogue with the defense industry 'to discover and change inefficient practices.'
