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 1998-04-28 monographic deposited born digital 38 p. GA 1.13:NSIAD-98-45 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-98-45 P0b002ee180379880 f:ns98045 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-98-45 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-98-45 NSIAD-98-45 Defense procurement Advanced weapons systems Concurrency Defense capabilities Missiles Air warfare Defense cost control Combat readiness AIM-9X Missile Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing System AIM-9M Missile F-15 Aircraft F-16 Aircraft F-22 Aircraft F/A-18 Aircraft Sidewinder Missile Chapter Report NSIAD Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the development status of the AIM-9X missile program and its concerns about the testing and production of all elements of the AIM-9X weapon system, focusing on the: (1) services' efforts to reduce missile development risk; (2) missile program's plan to transition from development to production; and (3) importance of separately managed but essential supporting systems.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) the AIM-9X missile program includes many initiatives to reduce the risk of technical, cost, and schedule problems; (2) it uses many existing subsystems, components, and items not requiring development, and government and contractor technical experts have joined together in integrated product teams; (3) in addition, the services conducted a competitive demonstration and validation of new technologies to reduce technical risk; (4) GAO is concerned, however, about two situations; (5) the plan to start missile low-rate initial production about 1 year before completing development flight testing and before operational testing of production-representative missiles will risk later discovery of technical or operational suitability problems; (6) accordingly, at this critical juncture, Department of Defense (DOD) decisionmakers will not have enough verifiable information on the system's key performance parameters in an operational environment to make an informed production decision; (7) GAO is concerned that the helmet-mounted cueing system is being developed under a separate program from the missile even though U.S. fighter pilots need both the AIM-9X missile and the helmet-mounted cueing system to ensure that they can prevail in air-to-air combat against modern threat missiles; (8) while the separate development programs are being coordinated, there is no requirement that the missile, helmet, and aircraft modifications be thoroughly and realistically tested and evaluated together as a system of systems prior to initiating AIM-9X missile production; (9) until the weapon system is tested and evaluated using production-representative missiles and helmets, DOD decisionmakers will not have information on whether the AIM-9X weapon system's key performance parameters--such as the ability to acquire, track, and fire on targets over a wider area than the AIM-9M--are achievable; and (10) further, if all elements of the system are not produced and deployed together, the AIM-9X may not be able to prevail in aerial combat against modern threat missiles. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-98-45/html/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-98-45.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-98-45/pdf/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-98-45.pdf GAO/NSIAD-98-45 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-NSIAD-98-45 Chapter Report GAO/NSIAD-98-45; AIM-9X Acquisition: Missile Risk Reduction Underway But System Production Plans Need to be Reexamined; Defense procurement Advanced weapons systems Concurrency Defense capabilities Missiles Air warfare Defense cost control Combat readiness AIM-9X Missile Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing System AIM-9M Missile F-15 Aircraft F-16 Aircraft F-22 Aircraft F/A-18 Aircraft Sidewinder Missile