Joint STARS Production Decision

GAO reviewed the military services' Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) efforts, focusing on the Air Force Operation Test and Evaluation Center's (AFOTEC) multiservice operational test and evaluation final report. GAO noted that: (1) the Department of Defense has recently reached a decision to commit to the full-rate production of Joint STARS, but the system has not demonstrated a maturity justifying full-rate production; (2) the system has not demonstrated its operational effectiveness and suitability; (3) the system may not have been tested in a realistic, unbiased manner; (4) the system suffers from a serious lack of software maturity that significantly impedes its reliability and effectiveness; and (5) failure to resolve these problems could result in unacceptable program delays, unnecessary cost growth, and unsatisfactory system performance.