Research and Development DOD Benefited from Financial Flexibilities but Could Do More to Maximize Their Use

Abstract

DOD receives about $95 billion annually to fund its R&D activities. Members of Congress, DOD officials, industry representatives, and researchers have raised questions about whether the process used to request and allocate those funds is fast and flexible enough to respond to evolving threats. GAO examined authorities related to budgeting and financial management that allowed DOD flexibility in its use of funds to support R&D, innovation, and modernization activities during fiscal years 2017 through 2021. The presentation will provide an overview of the 26 flexibilities GAO identified and will focus on DOD’s use of five to accelerate R&D efforts. These five flexibilities supported thousands of activities contributing to DOD R&D and efforts to modernize or innovate capabilities for military departments. GAO found three factors—planning, guidance, and institutional support—that helped enable DOD officials' use of the five flexibilities. GAO reviewed U.S. Code, relevant legislation, and DOD documents; selected a nongeneralizable sample of five flexibilities, chosen to provide variation in what they allowed DOD to do, and 25 activities as illustrative examples and to assess their use; and interviewed DOD and military department officials.