Weapon System Sustainment: DOD Can Improve Planning and Management of Data Rights [Reissued with revisions on Sep. 29, 2025]
Fast Facts
You wouldn't embark on a major car repair without a manual and knowledge of how the car is put together. Similarly, DOD can't maintain its weapon systems without intellectual property (IP)—technical data, user manuals, and more—from the contractors who develop them. DOD also needs the data rights to use or distribute this IP.
However, DOD weapon program staff don't always properly plan to get and manage the data rights they need. And DOD struggles to fully review the IP and data rights it gets. These challenges can limit repairs, maintenance, and modernizations.
We made recommendations that could help DOD improve its management of data rights.
On September 29, 2025, GAO reissued this report to revise a paragraph on page 15 to correct an error that replaced the word “DOD” with a number.
Highlights
What GAO Found
When the Department of Defense (DOD) contracts for weapon systems, it generally procures some data rights to intellectual property (IP) created by contractors. These data rights determine how DOD can use and distribute contractors’ IP and are necessary for DOD to conduct system maintenance.
Selected Weapon Systems GAO Reviewed
GAO found that DOD’s guidance requires programs to plan for IP and data rights necessary for sustainment by preparing IP stratgies. However, DOD guidance focuses largely on programs early in the acquisition cycle and does not fully address the needs of programs in sustainment when it comes to IP and data rights planning. None of the selected programs that completed IP strategies included all of the required elements outlined in DOD policy. Additional information could help better inform programs in sustaiment about the options available to them to address data rights shortfalls.
Selected programs received thousands of individual data products, or data deliverables, which program personnel struggled to review for completeness and accuracy. DOD components have developed tools to assist their review processes, but these efforts are not coordinated across the department. Funding the tools has also been a challenge. Until DOD assesses the tools available, programs may continue to struggle to review the data deliverables they receive.
Selected programs experienced vendor lock—or reliance on a single supplier—due to data rights shortfalls. According to officials, this approach can drive up costs and lengthen repair timeframes. Options to address these effects are limited once programs enter sustainment. Statute affords DOD unlimited rights in operation, maintenance, installation, and training (OMIT) data. However, the statute excludes detailed manufacturing or process data from this allowance. By clarifying how DOD and contractors treat detailed manufacturing or process data needed for OMIT, Congress could broaden the abililty of government personnel to make repairs themselves or compete maintenance work to different vendors while balancing the considerations of the industrial base.
Why GAO Did This Study
DOD spends billions to acquire and sustain weapon systems. To sustain these systems, DOD programs must have the necessary data rights that allow DOD or contractors to conduct maintenance activities. DOD and contractor personnel may have different interpretations of statutes, regulations and contract terms, resulting in disputes regarding what data is delivered under the contracts and affecting DOD’s ability to sustain the systems.
A Senate committee report includes a provision for GAO to study data rights. This report examines (1) how selected DOD weapon systems in sustainment planned for IP acquisition, (2) what data deliverables those programs received, and (3) what challenges, if any, selected programs faced in sustainment due to data rights shortfalls.
GAO reviewed planning and contract documents from five selected programs in sustainment: F/A-18, F-35, Littoral Combat Ship, Stryker Combat Vehicle, and Virginia-class Submarine. GAO selected programs using criteria such as military service and type of weapon system. GAO reviewed policies, and guidance on IP and data rights for DOD, and interviewed DOD IP experts, program and maintenance personnel for each selected program.
Reissued with revisions on Sep. 29, 2025
On September 29, 2025, GAO reissued this report to revise a paragraph on page 15 to correct an error that replaced the word “DOD” with a number.Recommendations
GAO recommends that Congress consider clarifying the treatment of detailed manufacturing or process data needed for OMIT. In addition, GAO is making three recommendations to DOD, including to provide additional IP planning information for programs in sustainment and assess tools for reviewing data deliverables. DOD agreed with GAO’s recommendations.
Matter for Congressional Consideration
| Matter | Status | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Congress should consider clarifying how DOD and contractors should treat detailed manufacturing or process data that is necessary for OMIT purposes. (Matter for Consideration 1) | When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information. |
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (OUSD A&S) should ensure the Director of the IP Cadre updates the IP guidebook or produces guidance to address the courses of action available to programs in sustainment to obtain IP and data rights. (Recommendation 1) |
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| Department of Defense | OUSD A&S should ensure the Director of the IP Cadre formally assesses available tools to assist programs with the review of data deliverables, in coordination with officials responsible for the tools' development. (Recommendation 2) |
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| Department of Defense | OUSD A&S should ensure the Director of the IP Cadre establishes a process to collect and distribute IP and data rights lessons learned from programs in sustainment. (Recommendation 3) |
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
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