Army Acquisition

Key operational requirements prevent the Army from buying pure commercial or off-the-shelf trucks to meet its tactical truck needs. However, the Army is making extensive use of commercial technology and commercial components in the tactical trucks it buys. For the four tactical truck systems reviewed, GAO found that the manufacturers used commercial trucks as baselines for their systems and generally used commercial manufacturing practices and components to produce tactical trucks. In addition to such operational requirements as tactical mobility, deployability and transportability, and survivability, Defense Department and Army policies place demands on contractors beyond what are found in the commercial marketplace. For example, contractors must undergo rigorous testing procedures, develop more detailed technical manuals, use standard parts already in the Army's inventory system, and adopt military quality standards.

GAO found that: (1) although Department of Defense standards and key Army operational requirements prevent the Army from purchasing commercial trucks to meet its tactical truck requirements, it is making extensive use of commercial components in the tactical trucks it purchases; (2) of the three tactical truck systems reviewed, two systems required significant modifications and integration of commercial and military components to meet Army requirements; (3) all three Army contractors have used commercial trucks as baselines for their systems; (4) the operational requirements that prevent the Army from using baseline commercial trucks include tactical mobility, deployability, transportability, and survivability; (5) tactical truck contractors must meet rigorous testing standards, develop detailed technical manuals, use standard parts in the Army's inventory system, and adopt military quality standards that are not found in the commercial market place; and (6) although the Army cannot meet its tactical requirements using commercial trucks, it may be able to increase its use of commercial vehicles to meet its non-tactical requirements.