Survey of Integrated Logistics Support Planning of the UH-60 Blackhawk

A survey was conducted of the Army's Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) planning for the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter program to determine whether there were any weaknesses in the Army's planning for the logistics support for the Blackhawk. The Black Hawk helicopter is being developed and produced by Sikorsky Aircraft Division of United Technologies Corporation, and General Electric is providing the engines. The Army has contracted for 71 helicopters during the first 2 years of initial production; through fiscal year 1985, the Army plans to buy 1,107 helicopters. The contracts include about $5.2 million for development and dating of the logistics support analysis (LSA) program. LSA programs developed by Sikorsky and General Electric are not up-to-date. The programs could not be used for determining spare parts and support equipment requirements for the initial support period, and the Army could provide little assurance that the programs would be up-to-date for full scale production provisioning in 1979. The Project Manager's decision to allow Sikorsky to discontinue efforts on LSA in the latter stages of Black Hawk development resulted in the program being incomplete and unusable. The reason General Electric's LSA was incomplete was not determined. The Secretary of Defense should take action to ensure that the Army: (1) increases its monitoring of the LSA program; (2) evaluates the status of LSA programs; and (3) takes necessary action to ensure that the contractors complete the programs on a timely basis.