defense icon, source: [West Covina, California] Progressive Management, 2008

Defense: GPS Modernization (2018-03)

To reduce the risk of unnecessary duplication, the Department of Defense should assign a single organization responsibility for ensuring that common solutions for Global Positioning System receiver card modernization efforts are collected and shared among hundreds of programs. Receiver card modernization for a small portion of weapon systems is estimated to cost $2.5 billion through fiscal year 2021.

Action:

As part of GPS military code, or M-code, receiver card acquisition planning, the Department of Defense (DOD) should assign an organization with responsibility for systematically collecting integration test data, lessons learned, and design solutions and making them available to all programs expected to integrate M-code receiver cards.

Progress:

DOD agreed with GAO's December 2017 recommendation, and as of January 2020, has taken the actions necessary to implement it. On October 15, 2018, DOD identified its Chief Information Officer (CIO) as the focal point for coordination of GPS M-code modernization efforts. The corresponding memorandum from the CIO stated that these efforts are intended to be implemented through the workings of the DOD Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Enterprise Oversight Council, for which the CIO is the Secretariat. However, at that time DOD did not address how the CIO will lead this effort or how this group would specifically address GAO’s recommendation to collect integration test data, designs solutions, and lessons learned, and make them available to all programs expected to integrate M-code receiver cards.

DOD officials indicated that in 2019, PNT stakeholders further discussed which organization would be responsible for the recommended coordination. In January 2020, DOD provided GAO with documentation confirming assignment of the DOD CIO as the organization with coordination responsibilities, including specific instruction relating to Section 1610 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019, which includes coordination language aligned with GAO’s recommendation. Assigning coordination responsibility to the DOD CIO will improve systematic collection and availability of data to all programs expected to integrate M-code receiver cards.

Implementing Entity:

Department of Defense
  • portrait of
    • Jon Ludwigson
    • Director, Contracting and National Security Acquisitions
    • ludwigsonj@gao.gov
    • 202-512-4841