Skip to main content

Trident II System: Status and Reporting

NSIAD-84-86 Published: May 15, 1984. Publicly Released: May 15, 1984.
Jump To:
Skip to Highlights

Highlights

GAO assessed the Navy's efforts to develop and acquire the Trident II system which consists of the Trident submarines, missiles and associated weapon equipment, and shore support facilities.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should establish the force level objective for the Trident program.
Closed – Not Implemented
DOD did not concur with this recommendation. It stated that: establishing a Trident force objective would be premature; the decision on ultimate force size will be influenced by capabilities of other legs of the strategic triad and by evolution of strategic policy; it is influenced by future arms control agreements. No programmatic decisions are anticipated in the next several years.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should direct the Department of the Navy to report the Trident acquisition program in two Selected Acquisition Reports - Trident I and Trident II.
Closed – Not Implemented
DOD did not concur with this recommendation. DOD stated that the current reporting of the Trident program in three separate selected acquisition reports provides more visibility of the factors influencing the cost of the missile and the submarine and permits comparison to other Navy missile and ship programs.

Full Report

Office of Public Affairs

Topics

Construction costsDefense cost controlMissilesNaval procurementProgram managementReports managementSubmarinesWeapons systemsMilitary forcesEngineering