Naval Aviation

GAO provided information on the termination of the Department of the Navy's A-12 program; focusing on: (1) what the government obtained for the almost $2.7 billion it spent on the contract; and (2) cost overruns and schedule slippages.

GAO found that: (1) the government owns the data that support six design and management reviews plus data submitted in response to over 2,700 requirements; (2) the Navy paid $1.33 billion for the six reviews, and made progress payments totalling $1.35 billion to the contractors; (3) the Navy demanded that the contractor repay the $1.35 billion for work in progress that had not been accepted at termination; (4) the Navy and the contractors signed an agreement deferring repayment, pending a decision by the U.S. Claims Court or a settlement between government and the contractors; (5) by contract termination, the Navy's A-12 cost estimate at contract completion had risen to $7.5 billion and the contractors' cost had risen to $5.4 billion; (6) in addition to rising cost estimates, the first A-12 flight schedule had slipped from June 1990 to September 1992; and (7) questions regarding the ownership and transfer of A-12 work in progress remain unresolved.