Summary: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the acquisition status of the Navy's Trident II system.
GAO found that the: (1) Trident II system development is on schedule; (2) Navy will need to continue testing the system after the December 1989 initial operational capability date to obtain sufficient data to verify missile performance; (3) Department of Defense's December 31, 1987, estimated program cost was $51.3 billion, which included costs for research, development, and procurement of 843 missiles, procurement of 11 Trident II submarines, and general support facilities; (4) Navy believes that it will complete construction at the Naval Submarine Base at Kings Bay, Georgia, in time to support critical 1989 program milestones; (5) dredging of waterways required for the Trident II submarine is nearly complete; (6) Navy plans to conduct two missile launches from a Trident II submarine before submarine deployment; and (7) Navy must meet several major milestones before December 1989, including land-based and at-sea missile launch tests. GAO estimated total life-cycle acquisition, operations, and support costs for the system at $155 billion.
