Summary: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined the Navy's requirements determination process for the Standoff Land Attack Missile (SLAM), the Advanced Interdiction Weapon System (AIWS), and the Standard Missile II Block IV System (AEGIS ER).
GAO found that: (1) the Navy inconsistently adhered to the Office of the Secretary of Defense and its own guidance in determining requirements for the three reviewed systems; (2) records frequently had unapproved or missing key requirements documents; (3) the Navy did not always clearly document the inventory objectives process, making it impossible to quantitatively match inventory objectives to military requirements; (4) the Navy did not consistently follow procedures for establishing requirements or setting inventory objectives for the three systems; (5) the Navy's process for determining SLAM inventory objectives was unclear and predicated largely on assumptions and military judgments; (6) the stated operational capabilities for the baseline AIWS could differ from actual capabilities, thus rendering key requirements documentation misleading; (7) the AEGIS ER could proceed to production without an approved operational requirement or other required documentation and formal agency approval; (8) the Navy reported general satisfaction with its non-nuclear ordnance requirements model, which generated inventory objectives based on certain assumptions and projections, although the model did sometimes generate inflated objectives; and (9) the deficiencies GAO identified in the three systems' requirements determination process illustrated the types found in other systems' processes.
