Some of the more serious problems have been resolved. Users of the M198 Report Recurring Maintenance Problems

In 1994, a joint Marine Corps and Army team of experts visited five major active duty Marine Corps and Army artillery units to identify and quantify the problems with the M198 howitzer, as reported by using units. However, the weapons manager has not been provided funds to buy them. The availability rate reported by Army users from January 1989 through August 1995 averaged about 93 percent. The Marine Corps’ weapons manager does not believe that the M198s can be sustained indefinitely but said that recent initiatives to repair major problems have improved the availability of the howitzer. The Army and Marine Corps Are Developing a Lighter-Weight Howitzer

According to users, Marine Corps doctrine, and systems development officials, poor mobility of the M198 is the main reason requiring its replacement. However, a howitzer weighing 9,000 pounds may not be capable of firing munitions any farther than the M198. The XM982, an extended-range rocket-assisted projectile currently being developed under a separate program and expected to be usable in the new howitzer, may achieve the desired 40-kilometer range. The Marine Corps has assumed that its new medium-lift aircraft now in engineering and manufacturing development, the MV-22 Osprey, will be able to lift the new light-weight howitzer. Light-Weight Howitzer May Not Fire Any Farther Than the M198

The Army and Marine Corps have been testing two light-weight howitzer prototypes, and a third is expected to be available for a shoot-off in fiscal year 1996. DOD disagreed on two counts with our conclusion that even with the remaining problems the M198 availability rate remains high. Our objectives were to determine whether maintenance problems with the M-198 justify accelerating the development of a replacement and to describe the current light-weight howitzer development program.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined whether the Marine Corps' and Army's reported maintenance problems with the M198 howitzer justify the rapid development of a replacement weapon.

What GAO Found

GAO found that: (1) by themselves, the maintenance problems with the M198 howitzer do not justify accelerating the development of a replacement; (2) although Army and Marine Corps users of the M198 have experienced recurring maintenance problems with the howitzer, some of these problems have been resolved, and solutions to most of the remaining problems have been identified but not funded; (3) even with these problems, availability of the M198 reported by Army and Marine Corps units over the last 6 years averaged about 93 percent and 89 percent respectively; (4) the Marine Corps believes that the poor mobility of the M198 is a more important reason than maintenance for replacing it with a lighter-weight weapon; (5) however, the anticipated air mobility improvements are dependent on the ability of the MV-22 medium-lift aircraft, now in engineering and manufacturing development, to lift a 9,000-pound howitzer; (6) so far, the developmental aircraft has not shown that it can lift that weight; (7) current light-weight howitzer candidates will fire projectiles to 30 kilometers, the same range as the M198; (8) to achieve the objective firing range of 40 kilometers, the weight of the new howitzer would have to be increased, but an increase in weight could negate mobility improvements; (9) a new munition, the XM982, currently being developed by the Army independent of the light-weight howitzer development program and scheduled to become available in fiscal year 1998, is expected to achieve the desired 40-kilometer range; and (10) however, it has not yet been tested in the competing light-weight howitzer prototypes.