Army Acquisition

Army trucks--part of the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles--passed technical and operational tests, paving the way for the Army's August 1995 decision to approve full-rate production. Following contractor modifications to correct vehicle deficiencies found in earlier testing, the Army conducted (1) a limited follow-on technical test to determine whether the trucks could meet contractual reliability and performance requirements and (2) a full operational test to determine whether it could meet its operational reliability and other mission requirements when operated and maintained by soldiers. The trucks exceeded reliability requirements in both tests and met most performance requirements. However, many of the test vehicles had not been produced on the production line or had been retrofitted to correct past deficiencies. Also, the contractor pretested both the technical and operational test vehicles and corrected deficiencies before delivering them to the Army for testing.

GAO found that: (1) the FMTV trucks passed technical and operational tests, paving the way for the Army's August 29, 1995, decision to approve full-rate production; (2) following the contractor's modifications of the vehicle to correct deficiencies identified in previous testing, the Army conducted: (a) a limited follow-on technical test to determine whether the trucks could meet contractual reliability and performance requirements; and (b) a full operational test to determine whether it could meet its operational reliability and other mission requirements when operated and maintained by soldiers; (3) the trucks exceeded reliability requirements in both tests and met most performance requirements; (4) in those cases where the performance did not meet requirements, the Army determined that the performance levels were satisfactory; (5) while the FMTV trucks overall performed satisfactorily, many of the technical test vehicles were not produced on the production line and/or were retrofitted to correct past deficiencies; (6) also, the contractor pretested both the technical and operational test vehicles and corrected deficiencies prior to delivering them to the Army for testing; (7) however, the FMTV contract allows the Army to verify that the contractor has corrected the problems identified during testing through tests comparing the quality and performance of full-production trucks with that of the approved final configuration; and (8) if the Army's comparison tests include full-production and retrofitted trucks, it should have adequate assurance that the trucks continue to meet the Army's performance and reliability, availability, and maintainability requirements.