Increased CH-53K procurement “Not Justified” says auditor

Increased CH-53K procurement “Not Justified” says auditor

4-Jul-2013 Source: Office of Inspector General

This report is the first in a series of reports evaluating Naval Air Systems Command acquisition management of the CH-53K program. We evaluated the CH-53K program documentation used to support the increased procurement quantity from 156 to 200 aircraft for the CH-53K program.

What We Found

The Marine Corps procurement quantity for CH-53K Heavy Lift Helicopters in the DoD FY 2013 President’s Budget was overstated by up to 44 aircraft. The Marine Corps could not support the need to procure a total of 200 aircraft because Headquarters Marine Corps Department of Aviation officials:

  • did not follow the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System Instruction and obtain Joint Requirements Oversight Council approval for the increase;
  • did not have requirement studies prepared to determine a procurement quantity in consideration of program affordability;
  • incorrectly relied on a 2008 memorandum from the Deputy Commandant for Aviation directing the increase of the procurement quantity to 200 aircraft, without support;
  • incorrectly used the 2010-2011 Force Structure Review’s war-gaming scenarios as justification for the quantity increase; and
  • did not justify or appropriately consider the impact of the Marine Corps personnel reductions effect on Heavy Lift quantity requirements.

As a result, the Marine Corps risks spending $22.2 billion in procurement and operating and support funding for 44 additional aircraft that have not been justified and may not be needed to support future Marine Corps mission requirements.

What We Recommend

We recommend the Marine Corps Deputy Commandant for Aviation perform an analysis to determine the number of CH-53K aircraft needed, conduct an affordability assessment, and obtain Joint Requirements Oversight Council approval of the CH-53K quantity before the low-rate initial production decision planned in February 2016.

Management Comments and Our Response

The Deputy Commandant for Aviation disagreed with the report recommendations to perform a requirements analysis and affordability assessment. He stated that existing analyses justify the 200 CH-53K procurement quantity and that the Joint Requirements Oversight Council approved the procurement quantity. Headquarters Marine Corps Department of Aviation did not justify potential increases in cost and quantity.

After the Deputy provided comments to a draft of this report the Milestone Decision Authority approved the Marine Corps’ request to rebaseline the program. The re-baseline included procurement cost increases of 54 percent and extended the Milestone C decision from December 2012 to February 2016. We request the Deputy provide additional comments on the Recommendations by July 2, 2013.


Acquisition Processes and Contract Management
Increased Procurement Quantity for CH-53K Helicopter Not Justified (Project No. D2012-D000CD-0037.000)
The report is For Official Use Only.

To request a copy, file a Freedom of Information Act request.

Federal Government requesters: please click here.
DODIG-2013-084

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