Weapon Performance

Operational Test and Evaluation Can Contribute More to Decisionmaking Gao ID: NSIAD-87-57 December 23, 1986

In response to a congressional request, GAO reported on operational test and evaluation (OT&E) as a means of testing weapon system performance, specifically: (1) its historical adequacy since 1970; and (2) its limitations concerning recently deployed major weapon systems.

GAO found that: (1) there were 32 historical cases where testing was unrealistic because it did not adequately replicate the operational environment; (2) the use of contractor support limited the realism of the test agency's OT&E results in its evaluation of aircraft effectiveness; (3) there were 25 historical cases where test objectives, criteria, and plans were incomplete, unclear, or absent; (4) OT&E personnel lacked clearly defined evaluation criteria; (5) test resources were limited or unavailable in 27 cases; (6) test reports in 22 cases did not provide the most current, complete, or accurate data on the performance of major systems before production; (7) the test report on the Multiple Launch Rocket System did not adequately describe the significance of a problem with the ammunition resupply trailer; and (8) the services frequently failed to operationally test a prototype before production.

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.

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