DEFENSE ACQUISITIONS: F/A-18E/F Aircraft Does Not Meet All Criteria for Multiyear Procurement
Abstract
Section 124 of the Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999 requires us to review the Navy's F/A-18E/F aircraft program and report annually to Congress until a full-rate production contract is awarded. The F/A-18E (single seat) and the F/A-18F (two seat)aircraft is intended to replace the F/A-18C (single seat), F/A-18D (two seat), A-6, and F-14 aircraft as they reach the end of their service life and are retired. The F/A-18E/F is designed primarily to meet the Navy's fighter escort, interdiction, fleet air defense, and close air support mission requirements. This is our second report under the congressional mandate and our fifth report overall on the F/A-18E/F program. Our prior reports addressed the developmental test phase of the program. In June 1996, we recommended that, given the cost and marginal improvements in operational capabilities the F/A-18E/F would provide over existing F/A-18C/D aircraft, the Secretary of Defense should reconsider the decision to produce the E/F aircraft and, instead, procure additional F/A-18C/Ds.2 In June 1999, we recommended that the Secretary of Defense defer multiyear funding for the F/A-18E/F program until all corrections of deficiencies had been incorporated into the aircrafts design and successfully tested.3 In its comments on these reports, the Department of Defense (DOD) disagreed with our recommendations. It stated that the F/A-18E/F would provide superior performance over the F/A-18C/D aircraft and that there were no deficiencies serious enough to warrant not awarding a multiyear contract. A list of our prior reports is at the end of this report. This report focuses on the most recently completed phase of the program- operational test and evaluation. The objective of this phase was to field test the aircraft, under realistic conditions, to determine the effectiveness and suitability of the aircraft, its weapons, and its equipment for use in combat by typical military users.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 2000
- Accession Number
- AD1178986
Entities
People
- Carlos D. Garcia
- Jerry Clark
- Louis J. Rodrigues
- Noel Lance
- Stacy Edwards
- Steven Kuhta
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office