Summary: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed: (1) the military services' justifications for their fiscal year (FY) 1992 budget requests for ammunition; (2) the Army's request for ammunition production base support; (3) selected segments of prior-year ammunition programs; and (4) additional, but unbudgeted, needs identified by the Army and the Marine Corps for FY 1992.
GAO found that the: (1) Army's $1.05-billion FY 1992 request for ammunition can be reduced by $80.4 million, since $47.7 million is for five ammunition items for which program quantities are greater than needed, $28.5 million is for two ammunition items that have unresolved technical problems, and $4.2 million is for an ammunition item for which the cost will decrease; (2) Army's $201.3-million request for ammunition production base support can be reduced by $8.2 million, since $4.4 million is for initial production facilities for which funding is premature, $1.3 million is for modernization projects at plants scheduled for closure, and $2.5 million is for maintenance of inactive binary chemical munitions facilities that will not be needed in FY 1992; (3) Navy's $328.6-million FY 1992 request for ammunition is overstated by $14.9 million for three ammunition items, since $2.8 million is for one item for which the Navy reduced the quantity it intends to buy in FY 1992 and $12.1 million is for two items for which total program quantities will not meet FY 1992 delivery schedules because of production problems; (4) Air Force's $306.7-million FY 1992 request for ammunition can be reduced by $108.7 million; (5) Marine Corps' $526.2-million FY 1992 request for ammunition is overstated by $83.3 million, since $43.7 million is for one item for which the total program quantity cannot be produced in time to meet FY 1992 delivery schedules and $39.6 million is for four items that have reduced requirements; and (6) budgets could be increased for 7 Marine Corps and 12 Army items, since projected inventory levels were lower than the inventory objectives, and those items could be produced within the FY 1992 program period.
