Not really and not so much any more as defined benefit plans are being phased out. It's more complicated than this, but in a brief, when the Government enters into a cost type contract they sign up to pay the benefits in place at the company.
These benefits at larger companies used to almost always include defined benefits for pensions. You work so many years at such a salary and by formula you get $X dollars per month when you retire. The cost the Government pays is based on what additional benefit the employee earns that year plus a factor to account for the difference between the assumption made [asset returns on the pension trusts, life expectancy, turnover and others.]
Until recently, because the asset returns were higher than expected costs were lower and the Government paid little in the current year and the surplus was expected by the model to pay future cost.
Then the asset returns headed south, and retirees continued to live a little longer than expected.
Usually these continuing costs get paid by the next contract, but payments are mostly from the trust where the amounts were funded in the past.
However, there are also contract terms that specify that if a contractor stops contracting with the Government, that there be a final settlement. The Government was very big on this when pension surpluses common and changed the terms of contracts in 1995 to have this settlement apply to fixed price as well as cost type contract history.
There goes your tax dollars, but there is nothing nefarious about it. Just contracts and the attempt to have a final settlement of costs.
Not really and not so much any more
Bull shit..
BTW, I have no doubt about that, as everything government does is made intentionally complex and convoluted. Look no further than the U.S. tax codes.