United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office National Security and International Affairs Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2000-07-11 monographic deposited born digital 58 p. GA 1.13:NSIAD-00-149 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-00-149 P0b002ee18037aad3 f:ns00149 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-00-149 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-00-149 NSIAD-00-149 Naval procurement Military vessels Defense contingency planning Naval warfare Procurement planning Weapons systems Defense capabilities Military systems analysis Missiles Rolling Airframe Missile MK-15 Phalanx Close-in Weapons System Rearchitectured NATO Sea Sparrow Surface Missile Navy Cooperative Engagement Capability System Navy Ship Self Defense System Mark I/Quick Reaction Combat Capability Aegis Weapon System Letter Report NSIAD

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO: (1) assessed the Navy's progress since 1996 in improving the self-defense capability of surface ships against cruise missiles; and (2) evaluated Navy plans for meeting future anti-cruise missile self-defense requirements.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) although the Navy has made some progress in improving surface ship self-defense capabilities, most ships continue to have only limited capabilities against cruise missile threats; (2) a Navy assessment of current surface ship self-defense capabilities conducted in 1998 concluded that only the 12 Whidbey Island and Harpers Ferry class amphibious ships have or will be equipped with defensive systems that can provide measurable improvement against near- and mid-term cruise missile threats; (3) the assessment projected that none of the improvements the Navy plans to make in the future would provide any ship class a high level of self-defense capability against far-term threats; (4) in projecting ship self-defense capability improvement, the assessment assumed, among other things, that all planned improvements would be developed and fielded as scheduled; (5) GAO believes that the Navy assessment overstates the actual and projected capabilities of surface ships to protect themselves from cruise missiles because the models used in the assessment to determine capabilities include a number of optimistic assumptions that may not reflect the reality of normal fleet operations; (6) among these assumptions are perfect weather, uninterrupted equipment availability, and perfect crew and equipment performance at all times; (7) further, inadequate funding, maintenance, and repair parts support continue to limit the availability of existing self-defense equipment; (8) plans for meeting ship self-defense requirements are not promising because the Navy still does not have a comprehensive and consistent strategy for improving its capabilities; (9) previous plans have not included all affected ship classes, have not always established priorities among ship classes, have not consistently used a baseline from which to measure progress, and have not provided timelines for achieving the desired improvements; (10) although Navy leaders express concern about the vulnerability of surface ships, that concern may not be reflected in the budget for ship self-defense programs; and (11) from fiscal years 1997 to 2005, spending is relatively flat (fluctuating between $719 million and $ billion) and associated research and development funding is projected to decline from about $517 million to about $218 million. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-00-149/html/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-00-149.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-00-149/pdf/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-00-149.pdf GAO/NSIAD-00-149 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-00-149 Letter Report GAO/NSIAD-00-149; Defense Acquisitions: Comprehensive Strategy Needed to; Naval procurement Military vessels Defense contingency planning Naval warfare Procurement planning Weapons systems Defense capabilities Military systems analysis Missiles Rolling Airframe Missile MK-15 Phalanx Close-in Weapons System Rearchitectured NATO Sea Sparrow Surface Missile Navy Cooperative Engagement Capability System Navy Ship Self Defense System Mark I/Quick Reaction Combat Capability Aegis Weapon System Title 10 Section 2241 10 U.S.C. 2241 Public Law 105-56 Conf. Rept. 105-736