Summary: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the status of the Army's Sense and Destroy Armor (SADARM) program, focusing on: (1) Army compliance with congressional directives; (2) the current program schedule; (3) the Army's estimate of the program's total cost; (4) SADARM technical development and test results; and (5) SADARM ability to meet a counterfire mission requirement.
GAO found that the Army: (1) restructured the SADARM development program to address congressional concerns regarding development deadlines and technical risks; (2) rescheduled its full-rate production decision for July 1994, since the program was 3 years behind its original schedule; (3) estimated total program costs of about $4.7 billion, but expected increased development costs to be more than offset by its decision to substantially reduce the number of SADARM munitions it would procure; (4) has not yet tested SADARM application to the 155-millimeter howitzer and the Multiple Launch Rocket System, but has successfully tested its application to the 8-inch howitzer; and (5) conducted a February 1990 threat assessment that reaffirmed the importance of SADARM and its counterfire capability.
