Bradley Vehicle
Status of Transmission's Reliability Gao ID: NSIAD-88-149FS May 4, 1988Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information regarding the Army's Bradley Fighting Vehicle, focusing on its: (1) transmission reliability problems; (2) modified transmission's performance; and (3) transmission modification costs.
GAO found that the vehicle: (1) met the only reliability requirement, achievement of 240 mean miles between combat mission failures, during development and initial production testing; and (2) did not have to meet reliability requirements for its components, including the transmission. GAO also found that: (1) the transmission has had numerous quality and design modifications to improve reliability; (2) the Army paid for the design-related modifications; (3) transmission manufacturers were responsible for paying for modifications related to inadequate quality control; (4) early fielding results indicated an improvement in reliability; and (5) the modified transmission needs more field experience for the Army to accurately determine its current reliability.