Audit of the Service Acquisition Executives Management of Defense Acquisition Category 2 and 3 Programs

Abstract

The objective of this audit was to determine whether Army, Navy, and Air Force acquisition officials appropriately identified Acquisition Category (ACAT) 2 and 3 programs and monitored whether program costs and schedules aligned with their respective acquisition category designation. A DoD acquisition program is a funded effort that provides a new, improved, or continuing materiel, weapon, or informationsystem or service capability in response to an approved need. DoD acquisition programs are classified into the appropriate ACAT level depending on estimated program costs and the type of acquisition. DoD Instruction 5000.02, Operation of the Defense Acquisition System,establishes policy for the management of all acquisition programs and defines ACAT program designations. ACAT 2 programs are major systems estimated to cost between $185 million and $480 million for research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT and E) or between $835 million and $2.8 billion for procurement. ACAT 3 programs are those programs that fall below the ACAT 2 minimum thresholds for RDT and E and procurement. Each DoD acquisition program has a designated Milestone Decision Authority who has the overall responsibility for the program and is accountable for cost, schedule, and performance reporting to a higher authority, including congressional reporting. The DoD requested a total of $236.7 billion in the FY 2019 Presidents budget for acquisition funding. Of the $236.7 billion, $144.4 billion was designated for ACAT 2 and 3 programs. ACAT 2 and ACAT 3 program management and oversight is delegated to the Military Departments. Each Department has its own procedures to identify and manage cost overruns, schedule slips, and overall program health. We obtained a list of all acquisition programs from the Army, Navy, and Air Force. We identified 820 active ACAT 2 and 3 programs listed in the acquisition program master lists.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 20, 2019
Accession Number
AD1116682

Entities

People

  • Theresa S. Hull

Organizations

  • United States Department of Defense

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Counter WMD
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Sensors
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircrafts
  • Airframes
  • Brain Injuries
  • Command And Control
  • Control Systems
  • Defense Planning
  • Electronically Scanned Array
  • Explosives
  • Information Systems
  • Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures
  • Military Acquisition
  • Navigation
  • Systems Management
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Unmanned Maritime Systems
  • Unmanned Underwater Vehicles
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Defense Financial Management and Audit.
  • Life Cycle Cost Analysis