The Government Accountability Office has recommended that the Defense Secretary should direct the U.S. Army to establish oversight mechanisms similar to defense acquisition program systems if development for upgrades operationally tested with Post Deployment Build-8 is required.
GAO said in a report published Thursday the Army plans to spend $2.9 billion between fiscal years 2013 to 2021 in support of an upgrade strategy for the Patriot missile system to address various capacity requirements such as performance, reliability, and communications as well as obsolescence and sustainment concerns.
The upgrade strategy budget will allot 33.9 percent of the budget budget at $994.4 million for mid-term upgrades and 28.2 percent at $827.6 million for near-term upgrades while ongoing upgrades will receive 22.7 percent of the budget worth $667.8 million.
The remaining $437.8 million on the budget will be allotted for long-term upgrades, auditors noted.
GAO noted the Army looks to begin operational testing for PDB-8 and PDB-8.1 in fiscal years 2016 and 2019 to reveal the extent to which the upgrades will work as intended and provide oversight to the service branch.
