GAO: Navy needs more contracting discipline
By Jenny Mandel
Poor contracting practices and lenient oversight, combined with an unqualified contractor, contributed to ongoing problems with a Navy vessel that continues to have reliability and performance problems 10 years after its scheduled completion date, auditors found in a new report.
Navy officials awarded a contract to Northrop Grumman Corp. in 1994 to design and build a submersible vessel that could secretly drop off and pick up Navy SEALs and equipment during dangerous missions. Navy officials accepted the Advanced SEAL Delivery System, or ASDS, on an as-is basis in 2003, six years after its planned delivery date, despite its not meeting technical requirements. The single ASDS vehicle in operation continues to have reliability and performance problems, according to a Government Accountability Office report, requested by the Senate Armed Services Committee.
In a blunt assessment, GAO reviewers set much of the blame for the problem at the agency's feet.
Full story: http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=37040&dcn=e_ndw
