The Army's Advanced Attack Helicopter is Not Ready for Production.

Abstract

We have been reviewing the status of the Army's Advanced Attack Helicopter (AH-64) and laser Hellfire missile programs. Although our review is not yet complete, we have several concerns in view of the imminent decision on the merits of starting production of these two weapon systems. New program cost estimates prepared by the Army indicate that AH-64 procurement costs would increase by 40 to 50 percent from the $4.8 billion reported in the September 1981 Selected Acquisition Report. This major increase created an affordability problem and the Army now intends to reduce the total program quantities from 536 to 446 aircraft. With this change, the projected AH-64 unit production cost now exceeds $13 million. The merits of producing the AH-64 and Hellfire must be weighed against resulting reductions in funds available for other programs.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1981
Accession Number
ADA111562

Entities

Organizations

  • United States Government Accountability Office

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Aircrafts
  • Anti-Tank Missiles
  • Army Personnel
  • Attack Helicopters
  • Contractors
  • Helicopters
  • Logistics
  • Maintenance
  • Procurement
  • Production
  • Quality Control
  • Surface To Air Missiles
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Test Equipment
  • Test Facilities
  • Weapons

Readers

  • Mathematics or Statistics
  • Naval Mine Countermeasure Systems Development.
  • Public Financial Management and Budgeting

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy