The Go-Co structure has its origins in the US defence industry. During WWII, Go-Co arrangements were used to maintain the munitions industry and Go-Co plants have been the primary supplier of the nation's military munitions since that time113. In addition to munitions, Go-Co's are used to operate radar and navigational facilities, electronics and communications facilities, equipment factories, and military sealift capability.
The US Department of Energy ("DoE") has Go-Co agreements with outside bodies to operate its 19 national laboratories and technology centres. These are run by universities, non-profit institutions, and commercial enterprises. For example, Los Alamos National Laboratory is operated by a consortium composed of the University of California, Bechtel Corporation, BWX Technologies and Washington Group International.
In the US around $18bn each year is spent funding Go-Co defence and research related contracts114. Around 60%, of this is spent by the DoE on R&D facilities.
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113 M.J. Connor, Military Law Review, vol 131, p1 (1991)
114 Average annual funding for operation of Government-owned facilities over FY04-07, of which 60% is contracted by the DoE for Go-Co R&D facilities (source: FedSpending.org)