Weapons Systems

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO monitored the initial production and operational tests of the Army's High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV).

GAO found that: (1) the results of the HMMWV tests revealed that the reliability of the weapons carrier and utility vehicles improved significantly since the 1982 tests, but some important performance and reliability problems still exist; (2) the vehicles are too heavy to be airlifted by helicopter in certain environmental conditions; (3) although the HMMWV has met the requirements to run on flat tires, many tires have been worn out because of the interaction with a metal device installed on the wheels; and (4) the weapons carriers also experienced problems with their turrets, which did not fully rotate consistently. GAO also found that: (1) ongoing tests of the shelter carrier have revealed durability problems with the vehicle's rear axle differential due to the shelter carrier's weight; (2) vehicles did not meet the goal of 200 mean miles between unscheduled maintenance actions; (3) the Army conditionally accepted the weapons carriers and utility vehicles pending the correction of several open production test deficiencies, such as cooling, heating, and noise problems; and (4) although the weapons carrier and utility vehicles have displayed improved reliability over the prototype versions tested in 1982, they continue to experience some performance problems that could affect both combat effectiveness and operational maintenance and support.