Acquisition of the Amphibious Landing Transport Dock 17 Class of Ships.

This report discusses the Navy acquisition of the Amphibious Landing Transport Dock 17 class of ships LPD 17. The Acquisition Category I Defense program for 12 vessels is expected to exceed 10 billion then-year costs. The Navy is developing and constructing the LPD 17 class of ships in response to the Marine Corps Operational Maneuver From the Sea warfighting concept and its need to replace ships built in the 1960s and early 1970s. Milestone II approval for the ship class acquisition occurred in June 1996. Following a December 1996 competitive source selection, the Navy awarded a combination engineering, manufacturing and development, and low-rate initial production contract to Avondale Industries for 641 million. The audit objective was to evaluate the overall management of the LPD 17 weapon system to determine whether the Navy is developing the acquisition cost-effectively in readiness for the production and deployment phases of the acquisition process. The audit also evaluated the effectiveness of the management control program as it applies to the audit objective.