DOD Operational Testing: Oversight Has Resulted in Few Significant Disputes and Limited Program Cost and Schedule Increases
Abstract
The Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) provided oversight for 454 Department of Defense (DOD) acquisition programs from fiscal years 2010- 2014. Military service officials identified 42 programs from that period that they believed had significant disputes with DOT&E over operational testing that is, disputes that may have led to cost and schedule impacts for programs. Operational testing is intended to evaluate a system s capability in realistic combat conditions before full-rate production or full deployment. Acquisition programs and DOT&E have different objectives and incentives, which can potentially fuel tension between the two over what is needed to accomplish operational testing for programs. According to military service officials, the tension is generally manageable and differences usually are resolved in a reasonable and timely manner, with modest adjustments often required in the course of developing and executing a test approach. However, sometimes differences about operational testing requirements, methods, costs, or results develop into significant disputes and are more difficult to resolve. Acquisition and test officials from the military services identified only a limited number of cases less than 10 percent of programs receiving DOT&E operational test oversight since fiscal year 2010 that they believed had experienced significant operational testing disputes with DOT&E. Officials noted that although these disputes can require additional time and effort to work through, they generally get resolved.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2015
- Accession Number
- ADA616880
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office