Summary: During the past decade, the Pentagon has spent more than $5 billion on a satellite system (the Milstar program) to provide the President and the military with global communications in the event of a nuclear war. Because of congressional concerns about the program, the Defense Department (DOD) has scaled back the number of satellites and terminals. But DOD's plans to modify the Milstar satellite design are not the most cost and operationally effective alternatives for satisfying tactical communication needs. GAO believes that this matter and three technical issues--sufficient capacity, assured connectivity, and the ability of antennas to neutralize the effects of electronic jammers--must be resolved. DOD can save up to $441 million by canceling planned procurement of one kind of Army Milstar terminal and selecting one contractor to finish producing the Air Force's command post terminals. DOD oversight of the Air Force's so-called low cost terminal program is critical, considering the risks involved, and separate criteria for exiting the demonstration and validation phase and engineering and manufacturing development phase of the acquisition process are essential. Caution is necessary regarding continued production of the Navy's Milstar terminals because of conflicts associated with reliability testing and production contract limitations.
