Defense Management: Opportunities Exist to Improve Implementation of DOD's Long-Term Corrosion Strategy;Report to the Congress

摘要

Corrosion and its deteriorating impacts are so extensive that military equipment and military infrastructure are severely affected. The financial burdens are also substantial--estimates show that the Department of Defense (DOD) spends as much as ;20 billion a year in direct costs alone to repair the damage caused by corrosion. Corrosion has equally profound impacts on the safety and readiness of the military services. For example, as we recently reported, the Navy suspended carrier operations in March 2002 when one F-14 aircraft crashed because its landing gear collapsed because of corrosion. Our report also indicated that corrosion-related problems had degraded the readiness of all of the Army's approximately 2,450 force modernization helicopters. Congress, in the fiscal year 2003 defense authorization act, directed the Secretary of Defense to develop and implement a long-term strategy to reduce corrosion and the effects of corrosion on the DOD's military equipment and infrastructure.