Book excerpt: Since FY 2000, the DoD has significantly increased the number of major defense acquisition programs and its overall investment in them. However, acquisition outcomes have not improved. In most cases, the programs failed to deliver capabilities when promised -- often forcing warfighters to spend additional funds on maintaining legacy systems. This testimony describes the systemic problems that have contributed to poor cost and schedule outcomes in DoD¿s acquisition of major weapon systems; recent actions DoD has taken to address these problems; and steps that Congress and DoD need to take to improve the future performance of DoD¿s major weapon programs. Illustrations.