Book excerpt: GAO provided information on the Department of Defense's (DOD) Military Products from Commercial Lines Pilot Program, focusing on the: (1) program's potential for achieving benefits sought from acquisition reform; and (2) barriers to achieving these benefits. GAO found that: (1) the pilot program has demonstrated that redesigning military components for commercial production appears technically feasible; (2) pilot program officials believe that if the use of commercial practices and policies is permitted, military production costs could be reduced by an average of 40 percent and the Air Force's requirements for the F-22 could be met; (3) other expected benefits from the pilot program include accelerated assembly, a more technically advanced and lighter weight product, and valuable lessons learned for future large electronic procurements; (4) for the pilot program to be successful and to encourage commercial participation, significant differences in commercial and military business practices have to be overcome; (5) although the pilot program has been successful in identifying government-unique requirements that present barriers to the most efficient use of commercial production lines, acquisition reform measures have not removed these barriers; (6) DOD must also overcome an acquisition culture that has historically resisted change and does not provide sufficient incentives for acquiring products from commercial producers; and (7) unless waivers are granted for many of the defense-unique requirements or workarounds, the pilot program will be limited in demonstrating that military items can be produced commercially at substantially lower prices.