| Tactical Aircraft: F-22A Modernization Program Faces Cost, Technical, and Sustainment Risks |
May 2012 |
32 pages |
| Authors:
Michael J Sullivan; Bruce Fairbairn; Marvin Bonner; Sean Seales; Marie Ahearn; Ana Aviles; Laura Greifner; Travis Masters; Roxanna Sun; GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE WASHINGTON DC
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 | The Air Force currently plans to spend $11.7 billion to modernize and improve reliability of the F-22A, its fifth generation air superiority fighter. Originally designed to counter air threats posed by the former Soviet Union, the post-Cold War era spurred efforts to add new missions and capabilities to the F-22A, including improved air-to-air and robust air-to-ground attack capabilities. In 2003, the Air Force established the F-22A modernization program to develop ... |
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| Air Force and Interior Can Benefit from Additional Guidance When Deciding Whether to Lease or Purchase Equipment |
07 Feb 2012 |
19 pages |
| Authors:
William T Woods; John Neumann; Marie Ahearn; Jessica Drucker; Laura Greifner; Julia Kennon; J A Walker; GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE WASHINGTON DC
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| Federal agencies spend more than $200 billion per year, on average, to lease or purchase equipment, with purchases accounting for nearly all of this spending.1 With agencies facing new fiscal austerity challenges, it is increasingly important that every dollar is spent cost effectively. The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provides that when agencies are seeking to obtain equipment, they should consider whether it is more economical to lease equipment rather than ... |
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| DOD Met Statutory Reporting Requirements on Public-Private Competitions |
26 Sep 2011 |
19 pages |
| Authors:
William T Woods; Jim Fuquay; Morgan D Ramaker; Matt Drerup; Marie Ahearn; Kenneth Patton; Roxanna Sun; GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE WASHINGTON DC
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| To conduct the required review, DOD collected relevant public-private competition guidance, lessons learned, and best practices from the military services and DOD components. The majority of information on best practices and lessons learned was from the Navy, which has had the largest public-private competition program for many years. DOD complied with the statutory requirements in conducting its review of public-private competitions and in submitting its June 2011 report to Congress. ... |
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| Weapons Acquisition Reform: Actions Needed to Address Systems Engineering and Developmental Testing Challenges |
Sep 2011 |
40 pages |
| Authors:
Michael J Sullivan; Bruce Thomas; Cheryl Andrew; Rae A Sapp; Keith Hudson; Laura Greifner; Marie Ahearn; GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE WASHINGTON DC
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| For the past 2 years, the Department of Defense (DoD) has been implementing the Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act (Reform Act) requirements for systems engineering and developmental testing. These activities are important to DoD's ability to control acquisition costs, which increased by $135 billion over the past 2 years for 98 major defense acquisition programs. GAO was asked to determine the following: (1) DoD's progress in implementing the Reform Act's ... |
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| Defense Exports: Reporting on Exported Articles and Services Needs to Be Improved |
Sep 2010 |
31 pages |
| Authors:
Belva M Martin; John Neumann; Marie Ahearn; Richard Brown; Sharron Candon; Julia Kennon; Roxanna Sun; Robert Swierczek; Bradley Terry; GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE WASHINGTON DC
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| The U.S. Government exports billions of dollars of defense articles and services annually to foreign entities, generally through direct commercial sales (DCS) from U.S. companies under licenses issued by the State Department (State) or through the Department of Defense (DoD) Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. GAO has previously reported on weaknesses in the export control system. As requested, GAO did the following: (1) identified the magnitude and nature of defense ... |
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| Contracting Strategies: Better Data and Management Needed to Leverage Value of Interagency and Enterprisewide Contracts |
30 Jun 2010 |
23 pages |
| Authors:
John K Needham; James Fuquay; Marie Ahearn; Lauren Heft; Russ Reiter; GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE WASHINGTON DC
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| Agencies can use several different types of contracts to leverage the government's buying power for goods and services. These include interagency contracts -- where one agency uses another's contract for its own needs -- such as the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Department of Veterans Affairs multiple award schedule (MAS) contracts, multiagency contracts (MAC) for a wide range of goods and services, and governmentwide acquisition contracts (GWAC) for information ... |
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| Export Controls: Observations on Selected Countries' Systems and Proposed Treaties |
May 2010 |
45 pages |
| Authors:
Belva M Martin; John Neumann; Jeff Hartnett; Stephen V Marchesani; Marie Ahearn; Jessica Bull; Griffin Glatt; Brenna Guarneros; Ian Jefferies; Susan Neill; Ramzi Nemo; GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE WASHINGTON DC
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| The U.S. Government annually controls billions of dollars worth of U.S. arms and dual-use items exported to its allies and partners through a system of laws, regulations, and processes. Weaknesses in this system led GAO in 2007 to include export controls as part of a high-risk area and called for a reexamination, including evaluating alternative approaches. Increasing international collaboration on defense programs also makes it important to understand how other ... |
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| Defense Acquisitions: Timely and Accurate Estimates of Costs and Requirements Are Needed to Define Optimal Future Strategic Airlift Mix |
Nov 2008 |
34 pages |
| Authors:
Bruce Fairbairn; Cheryl Andrew; Marvin Bonner; John Crawford; Karen Sloan; Karen Richey; Marie Ahearn; GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE WASHINGTON DC
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| The Department of Defense's (DoD) C-5 Galaxy and C-17 Globemaster III aircraft play key roles in transporting weapons and other cargo. Since September 2001, these aircraft have delivered over 2.4 million tons of cargo to staging and operating bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet determining the number and mix to meet current and future airlift requirements has become increasingly challenging given distinct differences between the two aircraft. While the C-5 ... |
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| DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: A Departmentwide Framework to Identify and Report Gaps in the Defense Supplier Base Is Needed |
01-Oct-2008 |
35 pages |
| Authors:
Ann Calvaresi-Barr; John Neumann; Tara Copp; Lisa Gardner; Michael Hanson; Ian Jefferies; Marie Ahearn; Jean McSween; Karen Sloan; GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE WASHINGTON DC
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| The Department of Defense (DOD) relies on thousands of suppliers to provide weapons, equipment, and raw materials to meet U.S. national security objectives. Yet, increased globalization in the defense industry and consolidation of the defense supplier base into a few prime contractors has reduced competition and single-source suppliers have become more common for components and subsystems. For this report, GAO (1) assessed DOD's efforts to monitor the health of its ... |
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| Department of Homeland Security: Better Planning and Assessment Needed to Improve Outcomes for Complex Service Acquisitions |
Apr 2008 |
41 pages |
| Authors:
John Hutton; Don Springman; Jeffrey Hartnett; Sean Seales; Alex Winograd; Karen Sloan; Julia Kennon; Lynn Milan; Art James; Marie Ahearn; Kenneth Patton; GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE WASHINGTON DC
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| All service contracts for the eight major, complex investments we reviewed had outcome-oriented requirements, but the requirements were not always well-defined. Four of the eight contracts we reviewed did not have well-defined requirements, or a complete set of measurable performance standards, or both at the time of contract award or start of work. These service contracts experienced cost overruns, schedule delays, or did not otherwise meet performance expectations. In contrast, ... |
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| Defense Trade. Clarification and More Comprehensive Oversight of Export Exemptions Certified by DOD Are Needed |
SEP 2007 |
37 pages |
| Authors:
Ann Calvaresi-Barr; Anne-Marie Lasowski; Lisa Gardner; Sharron Candon; Peter Grana; Jr. James Arthur; Karen Sloan; Marie Ahearn; GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE WASHINGTON DC
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| In support of Department of Defense (DOD) activities, U.S. defense companies may export defense items. The Department of State (State) controls such exports through its International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), which provides for some exemptions from export licensing requirements. For a limited number of these exemptions, DOD may confirm or certify that the export activity qualifies for the use of an ITAR exemption. As part of an initiative, DOD ... |
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| Defense Contract Management: DOD's Lack of Adherence to Key Contracting Principles on Iraq Oil Contract Put Government Interests at Risk |
JUL 2007 |
42 pages |
| Authors:
John P. Hutton; Marie Ahearn; Penny B. Augustine; Greg Campbell; Jr. James Arthur; Eric Lesonsky; Stephen Lord; Anne McDonough-Hughes; Janet McKelvey; Kenneth Patton; GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE WASHINGTON DC
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| The Department of Defense's (DoD) U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) awarded the $2.5 billion Restore Iraqi Oil (RIO I) contract to Kellogg Brown & Root in March 2003 in an effort to reestablish Iraq's oil infrastructure. The contract was also used to ensure adequate fuel supplies inside Iraq. RIO I was a cost-plus-award-fee type contract that provided for payment of the contractor's costs, a fixed fee determined at inception ... |
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| Defense Contracting: Improved Insight and Controls Needed over DOD's Time-and-Materials Contracts |
JUN 2007 |
56 pages |
| Authors:
Katherine V. Schinasi; Michele Mackin; Ron Schwenn; Marie Ahearn; Nicholas Alexander; Elaine Boudreau; Lily J. Chin; Paula J. Haurilesko; Art James; Matt Keeler; Julia Kennon; Patrick Peterson; GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE WASHINGTON DC
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| Under time-and-materials contracts, payments to contractors are made based on the number of labor hours billed at hourly rates and, if applicable, other direct costs. Because of the risk they pose to the government, their use is supposed to be limited to cases where no other contract type is suitable. GAO was asked to identify trends in the Department of Defense's (DoD) obligations under time-and-materials contracts; analyze what DoD is ... |
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| Defense Acquisitions: Status and Challenges of Joint Forces Command's Limited Acquisition Authority |
APR 2007 |
32 pages |
| Authors:
Bruce H. Thomas; Lily J. Chin; Joseph E. Dewechter; Bonita J. Oden; Marie Ahearn; Ken Patton; GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE WASHINGTON DC
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| Over 3 years ago, Congress granted limited acquisition authority (LAA) to U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) for a 3-year period to expedite development and acquisition of certain warfighter equipment. Congress directed GAO to report on JFCOM LAA implementation. GAO's report, issued in November 2005, said JFCOM finished five LAA projects and was working on a sixth project, and that JFCOM had experienced difficulty finding funding to develop, acquire, and sustain ... |
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| Export Controls: Agencies Should Assess Vulnerabilities and Improve Guidance for Protecting Export-Controlled Information at Universities |
DEC 2006 |
36 pages |
| Authors:
John P. Hutton; John Neumann; Sharron Candon; Gregory Harmon; Arturo Holguin; Angela Thomas; Sandra Moore; Marie Ahearn; Karen Sloan; GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE WASHINGTON DC
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| Foreign students and scholars have made substantial contributions to U.S. research efforts and technology development. However, according to a federal government intelligence assessment, foreign access to sensitive U.S. technology has imposed a significant but unquantifiable cost to the United States. Given this risk, GAO was asked to do the following: (1) describe the nature of the research at universities and identify steps they take to comply with export controls, and ... |
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| Defense Acquisitions. DOD Management Approach and Processes Not Well-Suited to Support Development of Global Information Grid |
JAN 2006 |
41 pages |
| Authors:
Michael J. Sullivan; John Oppenheim; Marie Ahearn; Lily Chin; Joel Christenson; Lauren M. Jones; Ron Schwenn; Jay Tallon; Hai Tran; Susan Woodward; GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE WASHINGTON DC
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| DOD's management approach for the GIG, in which no one entity is clearly in charge or accountable for results, is not optimized to enforce investment decisions across the department. The DOD Chief Information Officer has lead responsibility for the GIG development effort, but this office has less influence on investment and program decisions than the military services and defense agencies, which determine investment priorities and manage program development efforts. Consequently, ... |
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| Defense Acquisitions: Knowledge of Software Suppliers Needed to Manage Risks |
May 2004 |
34 pages |
| Authors:
John Neumann; Brian Mullins; Delores Cohen; Shelby S Oakley; Christopher Miller; Gary Middleton; Marie Ahearn; GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE WASHINGTON DC
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| The Department of Defense (DoD) is increasingly reliant on software and information systems for its weapon capabilities, and DoD prime contractors are subcontracting more of their software development. The increased reliance on software and a greater number of suppliers results in more opportunities to exploit vulnerabilities in defense software. In addition, DoD has reported that countries hostile to the United States are focusing resources on information warfare strategies. Therefore, software ... |
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