This report addresses the Dept. of Defense's Future Years Defense Program (FYDP). It (1) identifies DoD's plans to address the financial & programmatic risk areas that the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) found in DoD's program, (2) compares DoD's 1999 FYDP with its 1998 FYDP to identify major changes & adjustments to address these risk areas, & (3) explores whether there were risk areas in DoD's 1999 program. The QDR directs the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, to conduct a review of the defense needs from 1997 to 2015.

Congress needs the best available data about the Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) resource tradeoffs between the dual priorities of transformation and fighting terrorism. In 2001 DoD developed a capabilities-based approach focused on how future adversaries might fight, and a risk management framework to ensure that current defense needs are balanced against future requirements. Because the Future Years Defense Program (FYDP) is DoD’s centralized report providing data on current and planned resource allocations, this 2004 report assessed the extent to which the FYDP provides Congress visibility over projected defense spending, and implementation of DoD’s capabilities-based defense strategy and risk management framework. Figures and tables. This is a print on demand report.