Bigeye Bomb
Evaluation of Operational Tests Gao ID: PEMD-89-29 August 30, 1989Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO analyzed the Department of Defense's (DOD) operational testing of the Bigeye bomb and related developmental issues.
GAO found that: (1) while Bigeye met the criterion for agent deposition density, it failed to meet two key operational criteria for accuracy and overall reliability; (2) the delivery aircraft's computer could not calculate weapons release points quickly enough; (3) the delivery aircraft's maximum delivery speed was too slow for effective aircraft operation; and (4) DOD could make its measures of the weapons' operational effectiveness more precise, since the reliability achieved in the operational tests was considerably lower than the DOD estimate.