Summary

In response to a congressional request, GAO evaluated the Army's fiscal year 1981 requests for ammunition end-items involving the largest dollar amounts; ammunition end-items being bought for the first time; and projects for establishing, modernizing, and expanding the ammunition production base.

GAO concluded that $87.5 million requested by the Army for fiscal year 1981 should not be appropriated, including funding for 81-mm high explosive cartridges, M456 antitank cartridges, additional ground-emplaced mine scattering system mines, and additional M739 point detonating fuzes. Twenty-eight other items were identified that should be funded at levels other than the amounts requested by the Army. After reviewing 14 modernization and expansion projects with estimated costs of $251.2 million, GAO concluded that: (1) it was premature for Congress to provide funding to expand the production capacity for the Bushmaster ammunition,or funding for the application of radar to ballistics acceptance testing; and (2) less funding was needed for repairing the nitrocellulose line and for modernizing the smoke mix facility for M18 grenades because both include equipment which is not needed during fiscal year 1981.