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 1997-09-18 monographic deposited born digital 22 p. GA 1.13:NSIAD-97-172 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-97-172 P0b002ee18039d065 f:ns97172 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-97-172 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-97-172 NSIAD-97-172 Military training Flight training Aircraft pilots Military aircraft Women Attrition rates Cost effectiveness analysis Defense cost control Defense procurement DOD Joint Primary Aircraft Training System T-37B Aircraft T-34C Aircraft Letter Report NSIAD

GAO reviewed: (1) the Air Force's and Navy's calculations of the quantity of Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS) aircraft needed to meet training requirements; (2) the impact of the Department of Defense's (DOD) procurement schedule on the aircraft's unit price; and (3) service efforts to design the JPATS cockpit to accommodate female pilots.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) the Air Force and the Navy used inconsistent data to calculate the number of JPATS aircraft required for primary pilot training; (2) the Air Force used an attrition rate that was twice as high as the historical attrition rate for its existing primary trainer and the Navy used an attrition rate that differs from the rate that DOD now cites as accurate; (3) until inconsistencies in the mission capable rates and attrition rates are resolved, it is unclear how many JPATS aircraft should be procured; (4) DOD's procurement plan for acquiring JPATS aircraft does not take full advantage of the most favorable prices available in the contract; (5) for example, the plan schedules 18 aircraft to be procured during fiscal year 1998 and 12 aircraft during fiscal year 1999, a total of 30 aircraft; (6) however, GAO found that these 30 aircraft could be procured more economically if 16 rather than 18 aircraft are procured in the fiscal year 1998 and 14 rather than 12 aircraft are procured in fiscal year 1999; (7) this approach would save $1.36 million over the 2 fiscal years and permit more operational testing and evaluation to be completed; (8) furthermore, the procurement plan does not schedule a sufficient number of JPATS aircraft for procurement in fiscal year 2000 to achieve lower prices that are available under the terms of the contract; (9) because concerns had been raised about the ability of JPATS aircraft to accommodate female pilots, Congress directed DOD to study and determine the appropriate percentage of the female pilot population that the aircraft should physically accommodate; (10) based on its studies, DOD established the requirement that the JPATS aircraft be able to accommodate 80 percent of the eligible female pilot population; (11) pilot size determines the percentage of pilots that can be accommodated in the JPATS cockpit; (12) planned cockpit dimensions are expected to accommodate about 97 percent of the eligible female pilot population; and (13) to permit safe ejection from the aircraft, the ejection seat minimum pilot weight is 116 pounds, which is expected to accommodate 80 percent of the eligible female pilot population. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-97-172/html/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-97-172.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-97-172/pdf/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-97-172.pdf GAO/NSIAD-97-172 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-97-172 Letter Report GAO/NSIAD-97-172; Defense Acquisition: Acquisition Plans for Training Aircraft Should Be Reevaluated; Military training Flight training Aircraft pilots Military aircraft Women Attrition rates Cost effectiveness analysis Defense cost control Defense procurement DOD Joint Primary Aircraft Training System T-37B Aircraft T-34C Aircraft Title 31 Section 720 31 U.S.C. 720