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GAO-13-747R 1 (2013-07-25)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaahed0001 and id is 1 raw text is: GAOU.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 441 G St. N.W. Washington, DC 20548 July 25, 2013 Congressional Committees Missile Defense: Precision Tracking Space System Evaluation of Alternatives The Missile Defense Agency's Precision Tracking Space System (PTSS) is intended to be a satellite system equipped with infrared sensors that track ballistic missiles through their emitted heat. The planned satellite system includes a constellation of nine satellites in orbit at the same time around the earth's equator. In April 2013, the Department of Defense (DOD) officially proposed canceling the PTSS program because of concerns with the program's high-risk acquisition strategy and long-term affordability. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (NDAA), signed into law on January 2, 2013, mandated, among other things, that DOD's Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) conduct an evaluation of PTSS alternatives and report it to the congressional defense committees no later than April 30, 2013.1 The act also limited the use of funds made available for fiscal year 2013 for PTSS until (1) DOD submitted to the congressional defense committees a formal plan for the evaluation of PTSS alternatives-called a terms of reference-that had been approved by the Missile Defense Executive Board in coordination with the Defense Space Council,2 and (2) CAPE completed the evaluation of alternatives. Additionally, the act mandated that GAO assess the PTSS terms of reference and evaluation of alternatives, and then both brief and report our assessment to the defense committees.3 To meet the requirements of the mandate, we assessed the extent to which (1) the terms of reference submitted by DOD addressed an evaluation of alternatives, and (2) the PTSS report submitted by DOD included an evaluation of alternatives. We offered to brief the defense committees in early June 2013, and we are now issuing this final report. To conduct this work, we reviewed both the terms of reference and the PTSS report to determine whether they provided for and assessed alternative systems and concepts, as well as to determine whether internal agency coordination occurred consistent with the restrictions and requirements for the PTSS program in the Fiscal Year 2013 NDAA. We also interviewed DOD officials from CAPE; Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics; Missile Defense Agency; U.S. Strategic Command; and Joint Staff. We conducted this performance audit from May 2013 through July 2013 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and 1Pub. L. No. 112-239, § 224. 2Both the Missile Defense Executive Board and Defense Space Council are senior-level DOD advisory groups for, respectively, missile defense and space matters. 3Specifically, the act mandated GAO to brief the defense committees on the terms of reference and their conformance with best practices for analyses of alternatives as well as GAO's views of the evaluation itself. Final reports were to be completed as soon as practicable after the briefing. As DOD did not address an evaluation of alternatives in the terms of reference, we did not assess their conformance with best practices. GAO-13-747R Precision Tracking Space System

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