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Remote control circuit breakers are trip-free thermal devices that combine the functions of a conventional circuit breaker and relay into one device. The remote control circuit breakers are used in the AH-64A Apache Attack Helicopter to prevent electric current overloads to the Hellfire Missile System. The Office of the Assistant Inspector General for Auditing performed a technical evaluation of the breakers based on a Hotline allegation that the breakers were defective in design and workmanship. The evaluation objective was to conduct a technical assessment to determine the adequacy of the design, quality control, and acceptance of the remote control circuit breakers. Specifically, we evaluated and tested remote control circuit breakers for design and quality to ensure that the United States Army Aviation and Troop Command (now Army Aviation and Missile Command), McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems, and Texas Instruments complied with manufacturing and quality processes.

Our objective was to determine whether the RCAS funded, was executable, would meet the Army's National Guard and Reserve requirements, and would be fielded to all operational units according to an approved plan.

Our objective was to assess Procurement Technical Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (PTAP) value and effectiveness and to determine duplication of services provided by other federally funded organizations.

We are providing this report for information and use. We evaluated the long- term DoD efforts to develop cased telescoped ammunition and gun technology. Our evaluation was in response to a Defense Hotline complaint, alleging that DoD has been wasting money on cased telescoped ammunition and gun technology for 41 years. Our evaluation did not substantiate the allegation that fluids were wasted, in the sense of program mismanagement. The goal of cased telescoped ammunition and gun programs has been to increase weapon system lethality and the technology long held reasonable promise. However, the DoD expenditure of $213 million over 41 years has not resulted in a viable weapon system because several major problems have not been resolved. Despite the ultimate disappointing failure to move the technology to the battlefield, we did not identify any information to suggest that the pursuit of weapon system lethality using cased telescoped ammunition technology was not a worthwhile research and development endeavor for the DoD.

Our objective was to assess the propriety and implementation of laws and regulations applicable to the procurement of long distance telecommunication services from small businesses and SDBs in the telecommunications resale market.

The Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory Automated Management System (PAMS) is an Air Force-developed computer system that automates the administrative aspects of metrology and calibration. We received a Hotline complaint asserting that the Air Force has wasted resources by continuing to use PAMS when more capable Commercial-Off-The- Shelf products are available at lower costs. The complainant cited three specific deficiencies concerning the development of PAMS to support this conclusion. These deficiencies were: PAMS was not developed in accordance with Air Force directives, the Air Force was planning to reverse-engineer PAMS and convert the software from the Basic computer language to Ada, and an independent validation and verification of PAMS was never completed. The complaitant believed that the PAMS software would be difficult and expensive to maintain and that reverse-engineering and converting the PAMS software to Ada would be very costly. The complainant, therefore, concluded that Air Force could save money by replacing PAMS with a Commercial-Off-The-Shelf product. The objective of our technical assessment was to determine whether the Air Force had wasted resources by using PAMS instead of a Cornmercial-Off-The-Shelf product.

The objective of the technical assessment was to evaluate the structural integrity of the wing in view of the wing static test failure and the McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Company's (MDA's) repair plans. We evaluated the root cause analyses of the wing static test failure and the validation of the retrofit design.

This technical assessment was initiated by Senator Slade Gorton of Washington State that we review the procurement of some tooling used for cold expansion by the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center.

In 1989, the Secretary of Defense asserted that the Department of Defense should be "the federal leader", in agency environmental compliance and protection. The environmental compliance assessment program is a critical component of an agency's ongoing environmental management program. Environmental assessments are systematic and documented reviews of environmental operations and practices, which identify preventive actions that can be taken to avoid costly future cleanup. The overall objective of this audit was to determine the effectiveness of the DOD environmental compliance assessment program.

The fiscal year 1984 Military Construction Authorization Act (Public Law 98-115, Section 801) authorized a program for build-to-lease family housing projects. The program is available to installations with a valid housing shortage that can be satisfied economically through a 20-year lease. Since the program's inception, Congress has authorized 19,500 family housing units under Section 801. The audit objectives were to determine if the Services acquire family housing under build-to-lease arrangements in compliance with Public Law 98-115, if leasing of family housing is an economical long-term alternative to military construction, and if internal controls over the build-to-lease program are effective. During the audit we expanded our objectives to also determine if the family housing requirements were computed accurately. We will issue a separate report on the methods used to compute family housing requirements. Implementation of the build-to-lease program did not ensure that family housing was acquired in the most economical manner. The audit showed that Office of Management and Budget guidance used to justify Section 801 housing was inappropriate. Estimates for the military construction alternative included property taxes, which the U.S. Constitution prohibits state and local governments from imposing on the Federal Government, while other costs that the Government will incur were excluded from the analysis. Moreover, D9D1s economic analysis was designed to show that leasing was always the most cost-effective alternative and to establish a ceiling price. In addition, contracting procedures did not ensure that adequate housing was obtained at the least possible cost and that the Government's interests were adequately protecte

This is our final report on the Survey of Warranty Provisions for Construction Projects Within the Department of Defense for your information and use. We made the survey from January through May 1990. The survey objective was to evaluate warranty provisions and practices relating to construction contracts. We also evaluated the internal control procedures applicable to such warranties.