Summary: In developing its Advanced Field Artillery system, the Army decided to use a liquid propellant rather than a solid or powder propellant, which has traditionally been used in such guns. GAO found that the Army's most advanced liquid propellant gun was severely damaged during a recent test firing. The Army has suspended all live-fire testing with its most advanced gun until the cause of the explosion is found and corrected. However, in order to maintain the current schedule, the Army has decided to seek the Defense Acquisition Board's approval to proceed into the next development phase without additional live-fire test data and has requested nearly $61 million to continue into the next phase of the gun's development. This approach will allow the Army to demonstrate the program's readiness to process into the demonstration and validation phase even though it (1) has not corrected the problem that caused the explosion and (2) uses a technology that cannot now meet the system's required rate-of-fire. The Army's current acquisition strategy calls for the concurrent development of the unicharge gun as a prudent risk management backup for the Advanced Field Artillery system. However, the Army's current budget request states that funding for this alternative will end after fiscal year 1995.
