Presidential Helicopter Acquisition: Update on Program's Progress toward Development Start
Abstract
We found that the Navy continued to make progress in the past year toward (1) establishing a knowledge-based program that generally aligned with acquisition best practices and (2) meeting corresponding statutory certification requirements for entering the DOD acquisition process in the engineering and manufacturing development phase. The Navy has met or expects to meet requirements relating to assessment of technology readiness, making appropriate trade-offs to achieve affordability and getting approval of requirements, and development of an independent cost estimate. DOD has, however, waived a requirement for competitive prototyping and the Navy plans to defer a system level PDR until after the start of development. We reviewed DOD s waiver of competitive prototyping for the VXX program last year and found that it addresses one of the two bases provided in WSARA for such waivers; that is, that the cost to provide competitive prototypes exceeded the expected benefits. 7 In addition, while the Navy s plan to defer a system level PDR until after the start of system development deviates from acquisition best practices and is a waiver of a statutory requirement, a number of factors, such as the program's reliance on mature technologies and selection of an existing aircraft, suggest reduced risk in this deferral.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 10, 2014
- Accession Number
- ADA601471
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office