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Open Recommendations

F-35 Aircraft: DOD and the Military Services Need to Reassess the Future Sustainment Strategy
GAO-23-105341
Sep 21, 2023
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7 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, in consultation with the Secretary of the Navy, the Secretary of the Air Force, and the F-35 Joint Program Office, reassesses the approach for the F-35's information technology systems continuous support sustainment element, to determine: (1) whether the government or contractor should assume primary responsibility; (2) what changes, if any, the Navy and Air Force should make to the leadership, responsibility, and oversight of specific sustainment activities; (3) what intellectual property the Navy and Air Force require to support any changes, including all critical technical data needs, their associated costs, and milestones to acquire the data; and (4) any Navy and Air Force resources needed to implement any changes. (Recommendation 1)
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When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, in consultation with the Secretary of the Navy, the Secretary of the Air Force, and the F-35 Joint Program Office, reassesses the approach for the F-35's maintenance planning and management sustainment element, to determine: (1) whether the government or contractor should assume primary responsibility of the element for the Air Force and Navy, (2) what changes, if any, the Navy and Air Force should make to the leadership, responsibility, and oversight of specific sustainment activities, (3) what intellectual property the Navy and Air Force require to support any changes, including all critical technical data needs, their associated costs, and milestones to acquire the data, and (4) any Navy and Air Force resources needed to implement any changes. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, in consultation with the Secretary of the Navy, the Secretary of the Air Force, and the F-35 Joint Program Office, reassesses the approach for the F-35's supply support sustainment element, to determine: (1) whether the government or contractor should assume primary responsibility of the element for the Navy and Air Force, (2) what changes, if any, the Navy and Air Force should make to the leadership, responsibility, and oversight of specific sustainment activities, (3) what intellectual property the Navy and Air Force require to support any changes, including all critical technical data needs, their associated costs, and milestones to acquire the data, and (4) any Navy and Air Force resources needed to implement any changes. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, in consultation with the Secretary of the Navy, the Secretary of the Air Force, and the F-35 Joint Program Office, reassesses the approach for the F-35's support equipment sustainment element, to determine: (1) whether the government or contractor should assume primary responsibility of the element for the Navy and Air Force, (2) what changes, if any, the Navy and Air Force should make to the leadership, responsibility, and oversight of specific sustainment activities, (3) what intellectual property the Navy and Air Force require to support any changes, including all critical technical data needs, their associated costs, and milestones to acquire the data, and (4) any Navy and Air Force resources needed to implement any changes. (Recommendation 4)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, in consultation with the Secretary of the Navy, the Secretary of the Air Force, and the F-35 Joint Program Office, reassesses the approach for the F-35's sustaining engineering sustainment element, to determine: (1) whether the government or contractor should assume primary responsibility of the element for the Navy and Air Force, (2) what changes, if any, the Navy and Air Force should make to the leadership, responsibility, and oversight of specific sustainment activities, (3) what intellectual property the Navy and Air Force require to support any changes, including all critical technical data needs, their associated costs, and milestones to acquire the data, and (4) any Navy and Air Force resources needed to implement any changes. (Recommendation 5)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, in consultation with the Secretary of the Navy, the Secretary of the Air Force, and the F-35 Joint Program Office, reassesses the approach for the F-35's training and training support sustainment element, to determine: (1) whether the government or contractor should assume primary responsibility of the element for the Navy and Air Force, (2) what changes, if any, the Navy and Air Force should make to the leadership, responsibility, and oversight of specific sustainment activities, (3) what intellectual property the Navy and Air Force require to support any changes, including all critical technical data needs, their associated costs, and milestones to acquire the data, and (4) any Navy and Air Force resources needed to implement any changes. (Recommendation 6)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Nuclear Weapons: Program Management Improvements Would Benefit U.S. Efforts to Build New Experimental Capabilities
GAO-23-105714
Aug 30, 2023
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
National Nuclear Security Administration The Assistant Deputy Administrator of the Office of Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation should ensure that program management processes are adopted to appropriately address risks to designing and building the Zeus instrument and constructing the associated U1a infrastructure upgrades. In particular, these processes should include documented risk management plans that define the process for identifying, handling, and monitoring risks, as well as the roles and responsibilities for managing risks; processes to manage risks related to the integration of efforts across the instrument and infrastructure program elements, such as a technical change control board to manage design changes to the Zeus instrument; and processes to independently assess the maturity of new technologies needed for the instrument to meet program goals and timelines. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Building Partner Capacity: DOD and State Should Strengthen Planning for Train and Equip Projects
GAO-23-105842
Aug 29, 2023
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6 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should work with the Secretary of State to define and document, such as through a memorandum of understanding, a joint process that specifies when and how State should be involved in the planning of Section 333 projects, including timelines for State's review of concurrence packages. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should establish guidance to support the joint process for planning of Section 333 projects. (Recommendation 2)
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When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of State The Secretary of State should establish guidance to support the joint process for planning of Section 333 projects. (Recommendation 3)
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When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of State The Secretary of State should ensure that the Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs, working with the Foreign Service Institute, improves political-military officers' and other relevant staff's access to, and awareness of, training on security cooperation authorities by, for example, encouraging staff to use DOD online training. (Recommendation 4)
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When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should develop a mechanism for ensuring that Section 333 project proposals include all elements required by DOD guidance. (Recommendation 5)
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When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that DOD's congressional notifications for Section 333 projects include detailed information about partner nations' absorptive capacity and DOD's planning for capability sustainment. (Recommendation 6)
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When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Building Partner Capacity: DOD Should Assess Delivery Delays in Train and Equip Projects and Improve Evaluations
GAO-23-106275
Aug 29, 2023
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4 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Director of DSCA establishes a performance measure, such as a targeted percentage for on-time deliveries for Section 333 projects, that will allow it to regularly assess and monitor the aggregate timeliness of deliveries for Section 333 projects. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Director of DSCA works with implementing agencies to systematically identify and analyze factors contributing to delivery delays for Section 333 projects. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Director of DSCA, in coordination with implementing agencies and other stakeholders, uses the results of its analysis of factors contributing to Section 333 delivery delays to develop an action plan to mitigate or prevent potential future delays. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Director of DSCA takes steps to improve the quality of Section 333 project evaluations to better align with international best practices, such as by including the reporting elements specified by the agency's evaluation instructions. (Recommendation 4)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
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