Air Force Budget

In response to a congressional request, GAO: (1) provided information on the validity of the Air Force fiscal year (FY) 1987 requirements and funding request for aircraft replenishment spares; and (2) reviewed the Air Force's ability to execute its FY 1987 procurement program for such spares.

GAO found that: (1) the updated FY 1987 requirements for spares, as of September 1986, were $1.2 billion less than expected, as a result of a decrease in previously predicted future usage; (2) the Air Force used its normal requirements process, rather than its macro estimating model, to develop its FY 1987 budgeted requirements; (3) the Department of Defense reduced the Air Force's FY 1987 funding request for aircraft replenishments spares by $990.2 million, of which $722 million was due to congressional concerns regarding excessive administrative lead time and availability of unused prior years' funds; (4) the Air Force could reduce its requirements by $587 million by deferring or eliminating requirements for war reserve spares to support a questionable B-1B bomber mission, deferring requirements for aircraft replenishment spares that it prematurely purchased, eliminating excessive administrative lead time requirements, and maximizing cost-effective contract terminations of on-order aircraft spare excesses; and (5) excess inventory levels grew from 9.6 percent to 25.1 percent, or from $3.4 billion to $9.4 billion, between 1985 and 1986.