U.S. Special Operations Forces: Helicopter Cost Is Understated And ...

U.S. Special Operations Forces: Helicopter Cost Is Understated and Reliability Measures Are Inadequate (Letter Report, 01/25/94, GAO/NSIAD-94-46). The $1.2 billion in development and procurement estimates submitted to Congress does not reflect the total costs to develop and procure the MH-47E and MH-60K helicopters. For example, at least $367 million in procurement costs were omitted because they were included in budget documents for Army programs or activities. In addition, the total cost to support and maintain the aircraft--pegged at upwards of $3.6 billion--has not been reported to Congress because there is no requirement to do so. The primary reliability measurement criterion the Army plans to use to assess the helicopters' reliability is flawed because it measures only their ability to return to friendly territory and not their ability to perform special missions. Because the Army is focusing on the aircraft's ability to return to friendly territory, the measure does not assess the effectiveness of essential equipment. --------------------------- Indexing Terms ----------------------------- REPORTNUM: NSIAD-94-46 TITLE: U.S. Special Operations Forces: Helicopter Cost Is Understated and Reliability Measures Are Inadequate DATE: 01/25/94 SUBJECT: Army procurement Military budgets Future budget projections Helicopters Life cycle costs Research and development costs Military cost control Military aircraft Product performance evaluation Military operations IDENTIFIER: MH-47E Helicopter MH-60K Helicopter CH-47D Helicopter UH-60 Helicopter Black Hawk Helicopter Avionics Integrated System Army Special Operations Forces Helicopter Program ************************************************************************ We regret that the full text of this item is presently unavailable. See the GAO FAQ - Section 2.0 for printed copy ordering information. The FAQ is automatically retrieved with all WAIS search results or can be obtained by sending e-mail to: [email protected]