Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on whether the Department of Defense (DOD) intentionally withheld information from Congress about the Bigeye binary chemical bomb program.

GAO found that: (1) because a steering committee with responsibility for the Bigeye program did not recognize the seriousness of a test failure, there was a delay in providing information to Congress about the failure; (2) after being informed of the test failure, the Office of the Secretary of Defense timely provided the information to Congress; and (3) because of the problem that caused the test failure, DOD withdrew production funds for Bigeye from its 1984 budget request and delayed Bigeye production for 1 year. In addition, GAO found that Congress was not informed of another test failure because the problem that caused the failure was easily corrected and did not recur.

Status Legend:

Review Pending-GAO has not yet assessed implementation status.

Open-Actions to satisfy the intent of the recommendation have not been taken or are being planned, or actions that partially satisfy the intent of the recommendation have been taken.

Closed-implemented-Actions that satisfy the intent of the recommendation have been taken.

Closed-not implemented-While the intent of the recommendation has not been satisfied, time or circumstances have rendered the recommendation invalid.

• Review Pending
• Open
• Closed - implemented
• Closed - not implemented

Recommendation for Executive Action

Recommendation: In view of congressional interest and the sensitivity of the Bigeye program, the Secretary of Defense should designate Bigeye a major program for monitoring and reporting requirements.

Agency Affected: Department of Defense

Status: Closed - Implemented

Comments: DOD did not agree to designate the Bigeye program as a major program because of the added cost to the program, which would not increase management effectiveness. However, DOD agreed to designate the program as a selected special interest munition under the purview of Defense Operational Test and Evaluation.