Inflation Adjustments for Defense Acquisition

This paper describes recent research on cost indexes by the Institute for Defense Analyses. It was performed at the request of the Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation directorate in the Office of the Secretary of Defense to assist in meeting the requirement in the 2009 Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act to assess and update the cost deflators the Defense Department uses to adjust for price growth in costing and budgeting major systems. The paper's focus is on aircraft procurement.