Communications Acquisition

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the: (1) Army's dual-source acquisition strategy for the Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System (SINCGARS); and (2) potential impact of emerging technologies on SINCGARS quantity requirements.

GAO found that: (1) the Army plans to award a sole-source contract to prevent a break in production while another contractor completes its current contract; (2) limiting procurement of radios under the sole-source contract could provide the Army with the opportunity to later competitively buy more of the best radios at the lowest possible price; (3) the Army believes that the dual-source acquisition strategy still remains valid, because SINCGARS quantity requirements exceeded the manufacturing capabilities of one contractor, relying on one contractor for completion of SINCGARS would delay the short-term requirement, and SINCGARS start-up costs had already been spent; (4) the reduction of the threat in Europe resulted in a reduction in the size of SINCGARS war reserves, and reductions in the Army's quantity requirements for active forces and the continued easing of East-West tensions may lead to further reductions; (5) since the potential for cost savings from dual sourcing declines as quantities decrease, the Army may wish to reevaluate its dual-source acquisition strategy for SINCGARS; and (6) the Army believes that advances in communications and electronics technology in fiscal year 1990 could require the development of a new combat net radio.

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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