Summary: The Army's Sense and Destroy Armor (SADARM) Program is developing "fire-and-forget" submunition capable of destroying self-propelled howitzers and armored personnel carriers. The 155-mm SADARM projectile is not ready for low-rate initial production because it has failed to meet the Army's reliability standards. In addition, the Army has not resolved concerns about the SADARM submunition's reliability and the contractor's ability to begin production successfully. The SADARM program is lagging almost seven years behind schedule. The Army now estimates that low-rate initial production will begin in the second quarter of fiscal year 1996 and that full-rate production will begin in fiscal year 1998. The estimated total cost of the SADARM program is $5.4 billion in then-year dollars. Although the current estimate differs little from the Army's original 1986 cost estimate, the Army will procure 68 percent fewer munitions than originally planned. The Army's analysis supporting the continued acquisition of SADARM is narrow in scope and does not fully support the conclusion that SADARM is the best way to defeat self-propelled threat artillery.
