Airlift Requirements

Commercial Freighters Can Help Meet Requirements at Greatly Reduced Costs Gao ID: NSIAD-94-209 July 11, 1994

This report examines some of the assumptions underlying the conclusions of a cost and operational effectiveness analysis of the C-17 air transport program conducted by the Institute for Defense Analysis (IDA), and discusses Defense Department ongoing studies to determine the minimum number of C-17s needed to perform unique military missions. IDA concluded that a fleet of 120 C-17s was the preferred choice, despite the fact that it was more expensive than a mixed fleet of C-17s and modified commercial freighters. GAO found that IDA's conclusion that the C-17 was the preferred air transport was based on questionable assumptions and believes that Congress should not consider this analysis as a basis for authorizing 120 C-17s. The minimum number of C-17s needed to fulfill military requirements has yet to be determined.

GAO found that: (1) although DOD concluded that the C-17 fleet was the preferred choice for meeting its airlift requirements, its analysis made three assumptions that favored the C-17 and significantly reduced the cost-effectiveness of proposed alternatives; (2) the C-17 was designed to replace aging aircraft, deliver cargo to small, forward airfields, and provide other operational advantages over existing aircraft; (3) the study's assumptions about airfield availability were not realistic; (4) the Air Force's utilization rate assumptions credited C-17 aircraft with undemonstrated utilization rate advantages; (5) DOD operating and support costs estimates were not valid because it no longer plans to use the C-17 in place of the C-130 for routine intratheater deliveries; (6) COEA was not intended to be used to assess the minimum number of aircraft needed to fulfill unique military requirements; and (7) when the three questionable assumptions are adjusted for, a mixed fleet becomes more cost-effective and capable of meeting military airlift requirements.

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.

Director: Team: Phone:


The Justia Government Accountability Office site republishes public reports retrieved from the U.S. GAO These reports should not be considered official, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Justia.