Missile Defense Hard To Evaluate, GAO Says

By John M. Doyle

Despite orders from Congress to evaluate the costs, testing and performance progress in developing a ballistic missile defense system, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) says it still can’t assess the system’s overall performance.

In a report to Congress released March 16, GAO said the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has had problems establishing baselines for total costs or unit costs – making it nearly impossible for the auditing agency to determine MDA’s actual costs for the sixth straight year.

Money spent

GAO noted that MDA has spent almost $56 billion since it began developing and fielding a missile defense system in 2002. MDA “is on course to spend about $50 billion more over the next five years,” the GAO report finds.

“A better balance must be struck between the information Congress and the Defense Department need to conduct oversight of the BMDS and the flexibility MDA needs to manage across the portfolio of assets that collectively constitute the system’s capability,” the report says.

The report notes that poorly performing target missiles “have been a persistent problem, while testing shortfalls have slowed the validation of models and simulations that are needed to assess the system’s overall performance.”

Recommendations

The GAO report recommends that MDA improve its cost and test baselines; tie modeling and simulation needs into test objectives; provide more time to analyze tests; and synchronize development, manufacturing and fielding with testing and validation schedules.

In all, the Pentagon fully agreed with 10 of the 11 GAO recommendations and partially agreed with the 11th recommendation on testing and validation requirements to ensure that items are not manufactured for fielding before their performance has been validated through testing.

Photo: Architect of the Capitol