The Army Needs More Comprehensive Evaluations To Make Effective Use of Its Weapon System Testing

Evaluations of development and operational tests are used to assess the progress of new weapon systems as they proceed through development. As part of its continuing assessment of major weapon system acquisition management, GAO reviewed the Army evaluation process and discussed improvements that could better inform decisionmakers about a system's progress in development and operational effectiveness.

GAO found that Army evaluators have not been giving acquisition officials adequate technical and operational evaluations to fully assess weapons' development progress and potential combat usefulness. In most cases, the evaluations seldom went beyond reciting the test results and did not address critical issues, such as the consequences of fielding the system before resolving remaining technical problems. Evaluations need to be broadened and integrated to provide a more meaningful and coherent picture of system development progress and potential operational effectiveness. This will require greater participation by Army analysts in planning evaluations and in determining the technical and operational implications of test findings.

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: National Security and International Affairs Division Phone: (202) 275-4141