Summary: GAO testified on its views on the certification which the Secretary of Defense has provided under the Department of Defense Authorization Act concerning the advanced medium air-to-air missile program. The act authorized approximately $101.4 million in funds for research, development, test, and evaluation for the program but requires the Secretary's certification concerning the current status and future costs of the program before the funds may be obligated or expended. Although the certification was given, Congress asked GAO to review it to determine whether it fulfilled the act's requirements. GAO believes that, although there is no legal basis for objecting to the release of funds pending the certification solely because of disagreement with the conclusions or judgments that the Secretary reached in executing it, this does not mean that there are no longer any concerns about the application of the act. GAO found that: (1) the design and integration of software necessary for full-capability testing had not been finished; (2) early flight test missiles had a number of deviations from contract specifications which could impair missile performance if they are not corrected; (3) few of the design changes resulting from cost reduction will be qualified, flight tested, or integrated into the production lots and could delay cost reduction changes even further; (4) although the obligations with the contractor were adjusted down to comply with the certification ceiling, the program manager indicated that government costs above the ceiling were needed to permit flexibility in missile testing; and (5) to ensure that the missile will achieve its performance specifications, a large number and variety of tests remain to be conducted.
