The Army Should Confirm Sergeant York Defense Gun's Reliability and Maintainability Before Exercising Next Production Option

Gao ID: MASAD-83-8 January 27, 1983

GAO discussed the need to demonstrate the Sergeant York air defense gun's reliability, availability, maintainability, and durability (RAM-D) before the Army exercises the 2-year production option.

GAO found that the Army's plans to test the reliability and maintainability of its new Sergeant York air defense gun were abandoned when the prototype the prime contractor delivered for testing was found to be unacceptable. Some reliability tests are being done under joint direction of the prime contractor and the project manager, which is a departure from the normal weapon system acquisition procedure of having new weapons systems tested and evaluated by Army agencies operating independently of the project manager. Canceling the Government's RAM-D tests has caused some concern among officials in the Office of the Secretary of Defense who earlier supported Sergeant York's initial production. The Army has no plans to have its test and evaluation agencies perform reliability and maintainability tests until after initial production units become available. Canceling the government's RAM-D tests is disconcerting since it indicates that at this late date the contractor's prototype still has some serious deficiencies. The strategy for procuring Sergeant York is unique. It leaves the contractor with full responsibility to design and produce a defense gun to meet general Army performance requirements. Throughout its development the Army has adopted a hands-off policy. Since the acquisition strategy still has to run its course, an assessment of its success or failure is premature.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: Henry W. Connor Team: General Accounting Office: Mission Analysis and Systems Acquisition Division Phone: (202) 275-4141


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