On September 8, 1982, President Ronald Reagan signed the Nunn-McCurdy provision into law. When the unit cost of a weapons program grows past set limits, the Defense Department must notify Congress.
A rise of 25 percent over the current baseline, or 50 percent over the original, is a critical breach. Then “the program must be terminated unless the Secretary of Defense certifies in writing” that it meets set conditions. A program that continues is restructured and needs a new milestone approval. Only a critical breach allows its original baseline to be revised.