Pentagon introduces tougher 'fully burdened cost of energy' rules.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.
• Position: Defense Insider

* The Pentagon's energy office unveiled new procurement policies that are intended to restrict purchases of fuel-hogging equipment.

The Pentagon's traditional acquisitions system has not typically considered the "fully burdened cost of energy" in the design or acquisition of ground vehicles, ships or aircraft. FBCE includes the cost of not just buying fuel but also of transporting it to the battlefield and protecting it from enemy attacks.

Military buyers tend to emphasize performance and sticker price over other considerations such as energy use. It will likely be a challenge to institutionalize the FBCE guidance, at least until the military services change their doctrine and the way they write requirements for new weapon systems, says Dan Nolan, a 26-year Army veteran and former advisor to the Army's Rapid Equipping Force...