There are many digital systems to evaluate. The Army’s position is that, although these costs are relatively high, the resources are needed to demonstrate the utility of a digitized force. Digitization Plan Has Numerous Risks

The Army faces numerous technical, program, cost, and schedule risks in implementing its master plan for battlefield digitization. These risks are integration, software development, hardware costs, unknown quantity requirements, communications, and interoperability with other command and control systems. Marine Corps Funding Issues

Last year, Congress directed the Army to include the Marine Corps in its plans for the digital battlefield. This situation illustrates that the Marine Corps needs assured funding to solidify its participation and success in all of the Army’s digital battlefield experiments. Recommendations

To help ensure that resources are directed appropriately and the Army has the data it needs to determine whether it should (1) buy additional appliques and (2) proceed to the next level of experiments, we recommend that the Secretary of Defense require the Secretary of the Army to develop specific, measurable goals and exit criteria for each phase of digital battlefield experimentation. 3. 4.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Army's plans to digitize its battlefield operations.

What GAO Found

GAO found that: (1) as part of its battlefield digitization plan, the Army plans to conduct a series of costly experiments from 1995 to 1997 to demonstrate the utility of a digitized force; (2) risks that the Army faces in implementing its digitization plan include integration, software development, hardware costs, unknown quantity requirements, communications, and interoperability with other command and control systems; (3) specific and measurable goals are needed to evaluate the achievements of each experiment, and these goals should be met before proceeding to the next experiment; (4) the Army is risking investments of almost $400 million for digital systems needed to conduct increasingly larger scale experiments through fiscal year 1999; (5) the investment required to digitize a 10-division Army could be as high as $4 billion; and (6) since Congress has directed the Army to include the Marine Corps in its digitization plan, the Department of Defense must identify funding for the Marine Corps to ensure its participation and success in the digitization program.