Summary: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO evaluated the Army's Aquila Remotely Piloted Vehicle Program, focusing on operational testing which assessed the program's: (1) ability to accomplish its mission in its planned operational environment; (2) key characteristics such as reliability and maintainability; (3) readiness for production; and (4) 3-hour flight endurance capability.
GAO found that: (1) problems surfaced during operational testing regarding mission effectiveness, susceptibility to detection, reliability, and maintainability; (2) test and evaluation deficiencies made it difficult to assess the Aquila's performance in its intended operational environment; (3) the Army is still assessing the Aquila's 3-hour endurance capability; (4) the Army plans to improve performance and capabilities by correcting problems disclosed in testing and developing an infrared sensor to replace the television sensor used during operational testing; and (5) the Army plans to reassess only target detection capability before making a production decision, although other mission performance problems include frequent inability to launch the aircraft and survivability.
