Defense Acquisition: Acquisition Plans for Training Aircraft Should Be Reevaluated
NSIAD-97-172
Published: Sep 18, 1997. Publicly Released: Sep 18, 1997.
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Highlights
GAO reviewed: (1) the Air Force's and Navy's calculations of the quantity of Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS) aircraft needed to meet training requirements; (2) the impact of the Department of Defense's (DOD) procurement schedule on the aircraft's unit price; and (3) service efforts to design the JPATS cockpit to accommodate female pilots.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should determine the appropriate attrition rates and mission capable rates to calculate JPATS requirements, taking into account the planned improvements in JPATS safety, reliability, and maintainability, and recalculate the requirements as appropriate. |
DOD did not concur with this recommendation. DOD stated that data used to estimate attrition and mission capable rates (leading to calculations of requirements) considered planned improvements in technology and reliability and reflected use of aircraft in a way that was operationally practical and affordable. DOD believes that it is premature to revise estimated attrition or mission capable rates at this time, and actual data will not be available for years.
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| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should direct the Air Force to revise the JPATS procurement plan to take better advantage of price advantages in the contract, and upon successful completion of operational test and evaluation, acquire JPATS aircraft at the most economical target quantity unit prices provided by the contract. |
DOD stated that it would ideally take advantage of procurements at the most economical rates, but that limited resources generally make this unachievable. DOD did not indicate that it would change the procurement plan for JPATS. DOD said that, in the context of managing resources, it will balance the unit price advantages of buying higher annual JPATS quantities with the advantages associated with other uses of scarce resources. DOD's procurement plan for fiscal year 2000 increased to 29, the number of JPATS aircraft to be procured as compared to 26 that had been planned at the time of the GAO report. The Congress further increased the quantity to be procured to 41. Quantities planned for fiscal year 2001 were also increased.
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Topics
Aircraft pilotsAttrition ratesCost effectiveness analysisDefense cost controlDefense procurementFlight trainingMilitary aircraftMilitary trainingWomenAircraft acquisition program