Defence is lifting its acquisition game, with just one of more than two dozen major projects needing extra government funding and one at risk of failing to deliver full capability.
But defence still faces challenges at delivering on time, with just seven of the top 25 projects running to schedule and the rest running a combined 768 months late.
That's actually an improvement - 19 of 30 projects reviewed in 2013-14 were running a combined 1115 months late.
The latest Australian National Audit Office review of defence major projects says all but one of the 25 projects reported could operate within their approved budgets, which total $60.5 billion.
Related reading
Defence aware of Robert trip to China
Overall these projects came in five per cent under budget.
The exception is the $7.9 billion project to build three new air warfare destroyers, with the government announcing last year it would need an additional $1.2 billion to achieve completion.
This project is already running 34 months late.
Of the 25 projects, Defence says just the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning Joint Strike Fighter poses a risk of capability shortfall and it says that's manageable.
That particularly relates to complex computer software for the aircraft.
ANAO said Defence's claim that no other projects were at risk of capability shortfall might be overly optimistic.
The "projects of concern" list still features six problem projects requiring intensive remediation.
Defence is routinely criticised for procurement blunders but department secretary Dennis Richardson said they were actually performing better than the private sector and counterpart agencies in the US and UK.
The US Government Accountability Office analysis of 78 projects found an average 46.8 per cent cost increase against initial estimates. The UK Ministry of Defence found an average 11 per cent increase in costs.
Share
