Defense Acquisition

This report, which represents the second cooperative examination of a multinational weapon system development program undertaken by GAO and the German Court of Audit, examines the status of the Multiple Launch Rocket System's Terminal Guidance Warhead program. GAO discusses (1) the implications for this program of the U.S. selection of another system for full-scale development and (2) the Terminal Guidance Warhead's cost-effectiveness as compared to an alternative German national system in development.

GAO found that: (1) the Army selected a different missile system for full-scale development, but program executives and the MLRS TGW project office reported they might seek to continue the program into full-scale development; (2) there is a continuing requirement for a target-sensing anti-armor submunition at the MLRS TGW rocket range, and MLRS TGW will have advantages over other systems; (3) the MLRS rocket could deliver the Brilliant Anti-Armor Submunition, and the technical data from the MLRS TGW program would be sufficient to apply to other programs; and (4) GAO questioned the basis for proceeding with full-scale development of MLRS TGW because of funding constraints, the Army's selection of another system for use at longer ranges, and the sufficiency of technical data acquired. The Federal Court of Audit found that: (1) numerous German Army and Air Force weapon systems, including MLRS TGW, were designed to fight second-echelon armored forces; and (2) separate analyses concluded that an overlapping German national system in development was more cost-effective at most ranges than MLRS TGW.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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