Battlefield Automation: Better Justification and Testing Needed for Common Computer Acquisition
IMTEC-88-12
Published: Dec 31, 1987. Publicly Released: Feb 03, 1988.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Army Command and Control System (ACCS) common hardware and software acquisition program to determine its cost-effectiveness for providing battlefield computer systems.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of the Army | The Secretary of the Army should complete a full operational and cost-effectiveness analysis, demonstrating the best strategy for meeting battlefield system requirements, before awarding a contract for common hardware and software. |
Closed – Implemented
The Army concurs with this recommendation and has taken action to comply with it.
|
| Department of the Army | The Secretary of the Army should, if the operational and cost-effectiveness analysis shows that the common acquisition approach is the best strategy, conduct preaward testing that determines the ability of each vendor's common hardware and software to meet critical processing and communication requirements of the four battlefield systems. |
Closed – Implemented
The Army concurs with this recommendation and has taken action to comply with it.
|
| Department of the Army | If, as a result of successful preaward testing, the Army proceeds with the acquisition, the Secretary of the Army should initially procure only those quantities needed for development and testing and defer production quantity commitments for deployment until operational testing shows that the common hardware and software enables the battlefield systems to meet their required operational capabilities. |
Closed – Implemented
The Army concurs with this recommendation and has taken action to comply with it.
|
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Topics
Command and control systemsCommercial productsComputer equipment contractsCost effectiveness analysisInformation systemsIrregular procurementMilitary cost controlProduct evaluationProgramming languagesTestingComputer hardware