Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Realistic Testing Needed Before Production of Short-Range System Gao ID: NSIAD-90-234 September 28, 1990

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) strategy for acquiring the Short-Ranged Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) system, focusing on a comparison between DOD acquisition strategies for UAV and a previously procured system that encountered problems when deployed with the Navy's operational forces.

GAO found that DOD: (1) planned to perform operational testing before beginning low-rate UAV production, but the tester system would not incorporate those features necessary to operate in a naval environment; (2) planned to begin full-rate UAV production before verifying that it could be modified to meet Navy requirements; (3) planned to test UAV in an environment not representative of deployment conditions, which could place DOD at risk of becoming committed to system production based on test results that might not be a valid indicator of the system's capability; (4) planned an acquisition strategy for the UAV system that was similar to the previous strategy, which resulted in its spending $160 million for a system that did not meet performance requirements, and demonstrated the difficulties in adapting UAV for naval use and the need for timely testing; and (5) agreed to correct other shortcomings in the planned UAV system test program.

Recommendations

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