Naval Aviation

To replace its aging fleet of A-6 medium attack aircraft, the Navy developed a new plane in the 1980s--the A-12--that incorporates stealth technology. The Navy made progress payments on A-12 technology and equipment in the possession of contractors that the government had rejected at contract termination. McDonnell Douglas and General Dynamics, members of the A-12 contractor team, had planned to sell these items to outside parties and had transferred some A-12 assets to other government contractors. GAO looked into the ownership and transfer of A-12 assets and Defense Department (DOD) actions to protect the government's investment in these assets. This report discusses DOD's response, other recent actions taken by contractors and DOD, and whether the government's investment in these assets is protected. GAO also points out opportunities the Navy may have to use the technologies and knowledge developed for the A-12 program.

GAO found that: (1) before June 1991, the Navy did not plan to control the A-12 contractors' disposal of program assets, and consequently the contractors had disposed of some assets; (2) in June 1991, the Navy modified this position and required the A-12 contractors to submit asset disposition plans for approval; (3) the Navy believes that the government owns all A-12 assets it paid for and accepted and is entitled to buy the remaining A-12 assets; (4) although the Navy's position changed, the contractors continued to sell A-12 assets for salvage and transferred some assets to other government programs that they were working on; (5) the Navy could not ensure that the contractors' asset disposition was in the government's best interest, since the contractors did not follow the Navy's June 1991 guidance; (6) if the Navy waits until litigation with the contractors is settled, it may miss opportunities to use the technologies and knowledge developed from the A-12 on other development programs; and (7) the Navy could incur additional costs to develop the same technologies and hardware if it does not take immediate action to acquire the A-12 assets.

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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