Defense Management. Opportunities to Enhance the Implementation of Performance-Based Logistics;Report to Congress

摘要

The Department of Defense (DOD) is pursuing a policy that promotes performance-based logistics at the platform level as the preferred product support strategy for its weapon systems, based in part on DOD's perception that this is an industry best practice. GAO was asked to compare industry practices for activities using complex and costly equipment with life-cycle management issues similar to those of military systems to identify lessons learned that can be useful to DOD. This is the first of two reports addressing DOD's implementation of performance based logistics and is intended to facilitate DOD's development of new guidance on the use of this approach. GAO recommends that DOD (1) revise its policy and guidance to the services to reflect the industry practice of using performance based logistics as a tool to achieve economies at the subsystem or component level, rather than at the platform-level, and (2) provide for sufficient technical data to support alternative support options using either the public or the private sector. DOD concurred with our recommendations, noting that it would re-emphasize via policy and training the use of performance based logistics at the subsystem level and take steps to update acquisition policy to include guidance on purchasing rights or long-term access to technical data.