GAO reports Army modernization efforts could use improvement

Building on two years of recommendations surrounding modernization efforts of the U.S. Army, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found areas in which they believe the Army could improve to avoid costly failures.

Their report, which covers near and long-term modernization efforts, related budget documents and acquisition processes for significant weapons, addresses an Army initiative known as Army Futures Command. That effort, dubbed the Army’s most significant institutional change since the post-Vietnam War period, consolidates all modernization efforts under that initiative’s authority, utilizing eight cross-functional teams pressing for efficiency and development in six areas. It has been working since 2017.

Army priorities include the restoration of Army capabilities in range, lethality and targeting, creating next-generation combat vehicles, pursuing manned and unmanned vehicles capable of modern attack, life, and recon needs, and creating a mobile Army network system usable in electromagnetic spectrum-compromised areas. They also include updating air and missile defense capabilities, and more generally, improving the skills, equipment, and training to make soldiers as lethal as possible.

Most efforts have been focused on the short-term, however. Going forward, GAO recommends that the Army ensure technologies planned for use in new weapon systems are mature, guarantees transparency of costs, analyzes the resources needed to create weapon system requirements and apply leading practices and lessons learned to Army Futures Command’s cross-functional teams.

The Army has thus far agreed with the recommendations, and GAO believes this could allow for more enhanced capabilities coupled with risks of cost and schedule growth.