Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Performance of Short-Range System Still in Question Gao ID: NSIAD-94-65 December 15, 1993

The Army is acquiring the short-range unmanned aerial vehicle--a pilotless aircraft that can be controlled from the ground--at a projected cost of $4.1 billion. The small plane is expected to fly over enemy territory and perform reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition, and intelligence missions. The Pentagon believes that the preproduction test results justify the vehicle's low-rate production. GAO's review of the test results, however, revealed deficiencies that could jeopardize the system's ability to meet military requirements. In addition, several important performance requirements either were not tested or were tested under unrealistic conditions, further compounding the uncertainty about system performance. The upshot is that the Defense Department, by allowing the program to be driven by schedule requirements rather than by proven achievements, has committed to acquiring an unproven and possibly deficient system.

GAO found that: (1) the short-range UAV has failed to meet the relay requirements that control the aircraft during long-range operations; (2) the system has failed to meet the time standards for supporting artillery operations and transportability requirements; (3) the system's mechanical reliability is questionable; (4) the Department of Defense (DOD) has not evaluated UAV survivability or adequately tested the system's electromagnetic compatibility; (5) DOD conducted preproduction testing in an unrealistic environment and did not attempt to determine if the system could operate in a realistic hostile environment; (6) DOD has no assurance that military personnel will be able to maintain the UAV system; (7) DOD management of the UAV program is inconsistent with DOD policy for acquiring systems that meet user needs; and (8) DOD has approved low-rate production of UAV even though it has failed to meet established performance criteria.

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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