Test and Evaluation

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed projects funded by the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Central Test and Evaluation Investment Program (CTEIP), focusing on: (1) project justification; (2) duplication among projects; (3) the execution of fiscal year (FY) 1990 and FY 1991 projects; and (4) project outyear funding profiles. GAO found that: (1) the CTEIP goal was to fund high-priority test and evaluation requirements and ensure adequate and timely test capabilities to support DOD weapon system acquisition programs; (2) for FY 1992, DOD planned to restructure CTEIP criteria for justifying projects to emphasize multiservice applications; (3) CTEIP projects generally complemented, rather than duplicated one another; (4) during FY 1990, funding for 7 projects changed significantly due to projected benefits and problems in executing contracts; (5) DOD did not anticipate any problems in expending FY 1991 CTEIP funds; and (6) due to funding cuts, the Office of the Secretary of Defense extended 18 of the 28 projects into the outyears beyond FY 1994, instead of cancelling projects.