Highlights of GAO report on cancellation of integrated flight test (IFT) 16 (GAO-03-767R)
By Matt Martin
Recently, it became public that the Missile Defense Agency has canceled a slew of upcoming intercept tests of the ground-based midcourse system (GMD). The cancellation of IFT-16, scheduled for 2004 (variously April or September) particularly raised eyebrows, as it was the final “test run” of the ground-based midcourse system, and the last test scheduled before the system is deemed operational at the end of September 2004, per the president’s directive. At the request of Senator Bill Nelson, ranking minority member of the Senate Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee, GAO conducted a study on “the original purpose of IFT-16, how the test differed from IFT-14 and –15, and what new information IFT-16 would have provided had it been conducted.” Here are some of the findings:
Had the Missile Defense Agency conducted IFT-16, it would have accomplished the following:
- Increased the agency’s knowledge regarding the feasibility and effectiveness of GMD’s initial defensive capability, which DOD still plans to begin fielding in September 2004.
- Provided an opportunity to assess GMD’s capability under new engagement conditions. Also, IFT-16 would have tested the GMD element in another intercept region…A test in this region will now be delayed until IFT-17.
- Offered the first opportunity to flight test the radar at Beale Air Force Base, California, in an upgraded early warning radar configuration, and to flight test a new version of the battle management software. Flight tests of both the battle management software and the radar will be delayed until the radar certification flight—a non-intercept flight test denoted IFT-16A—which is scheduled for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2004.
[W]ith the cancellation of IFT-16, MDA expects to have a 13-month gap between IFT-15, planned for January 2004, and IFT-17, scheduled for February 2005.