Strategic Defense Initiative

The mission-based program elements used for 1991 do not accurately reflect the new focus of the Strategic Defense Initiative--Global Protection Against Limited Strikes. GAO and officials of the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO) each identified an alternative option for revising the program elements. The major differences between SDIO's option and GAO's are (1) where to fund 30 technology development projects totaling about $2 billion and (2) whether to have a separate program element for funding 34 SDIO projects used to fund the management of the total program and integration and support services. SDIO's option distributes the technology projects among the program elements, whereas GAO's option includes one program element for technologies that supports the objective of Global Protection Against Limited Strikes and one for the other technologies. GAO's option also has a separate program element to fund management. Congress may establish control over SDIO funding by (1) limiting the total appropriation and allowing SDIO to distribute the funds among the program elements, (2) allocating the appropriation among each program element, or (3) setting funding amounts for specific projects in a program element.

GAO found that: (1) the FY 1991 mission-based program elements do not accurately reflect the Strategic Defense Initiative's new Global Protection Against Limited Strikes (GPALS) focus; (2) the SDIO alternative option for revising program elements involves distributing the technology projects among the program elements; (3) the GAO option includes one program element for technologies that support GPALS, one for other technologies and a separate element to fund management; and (4) Congress can establish control over SDIO funding by limiting the total appropriation and allowing SDIO to distribute funds among the program elements allocating the appropriation among each program element, or setting funding amounts for specific projects.