Less Costly Ways To Budget and Provision Spares for New Weapon Systems Should Be Used
PLRD-81-60
Published: Sep 09, 1981. Publicly Released: Sep 09, 1981.
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Highlights
GAO reviewed the budgeting and provisioning procedures employed by the Army, Navy, and Air Force for spare parts for new weapon systems. GAO initiated the review of spare provisioning for new aircraft and helicopters in response to: (1) congressional concern about the low readiness rates of new aircraft being deployed because of a lack of spare parts; (2) previous GAO reviews which discussed both the excesses and shortages of aircraft spares; and (3) broad congressional interest in reducing the life cycle costs of major weapon systems.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should direct the services to use the phased provisioning concept as was recommended by the Defense Audit Service. |
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should amend the DOD policy on the use of advanced funding and allow its use for spare parts to take advantage of combined purchases of spare parts with production components. |
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should direct that other systems be evaluated for potential use of the combined purchasing concept and request the money needed to use the concept. |
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should require that the services better justify how their levels of initial provisioning of spares meet DOD policy on minimizing initial investment costs. |
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should redefine, for budget purposes, initial spares to include all spares needed to field a weapon system and provide a breakdown of the initial spares budget request in more descriptive categories, such as "investment spares" (peacetime and war reserve shown separately) and "spare engines." |
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should review and revise DOD guidance on using operational demand data to: (1) clarify language that could result in differing interpretations; and (2) require that the services establish demand development periods as early as possible and start using operational demand data after 6 months to adjust requirements computations. |
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should, in submitting budget requests for major weapon systems, show total spare needs by weapon system. |
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
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Topics
BudgetingCost effectiveness analysisDefense budgetsDefense cost controlHelicoptersInventory controlMilitary aircraftSpare partsWeapons systemsMilitary forces