National Defense: Gao Assessment of Dod's Very High Speed Integrated Circuits (Vhsic) Technology Program: Nsiad-85-37

GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) Very High Speed Integrated Circuits (VHSIC) program aimed at developing and demonstrating two generations of advanced data and signal processing technology for defense systems.
Although technical progress has been made, contractors have encountered significant delays and other problems in developing, demonstrating, and verifying the first generation VHSIC technology. GAO noted that: (1) emphasis on the completion and independent testing of first generation technology could increase the early utilization of VHSIC technology without further program extension; (2) cost increases resulted from expansion of the program's scope beyond its original mandate; (3) DOD proposed to improve, with direct subsidies, the contractors' manufacturing efficiency in producing, assembling, and testing VHSIC chips; and (4) increased emphasis on efforts to fulfill the VHSIC program's original mandate to develop, demonstrate, and verify technology would minimize system developers' uncertainties about using VHSIC technology.