Acquisition of the Joint System Imagery Processing System

The Joint Service Imagery Processing System (JSIPS) was intended to provide combat commanders with enhanced capabilities to receive, process, exploit, and report imagery. The JSIPS would obtain its imagery data from theater, national, and tactical sources. In 1986, the Services signed a Joint Service Memorandum of Agreement that designated the Air Force as the lead Service for the JSIPS Program. The JSIPS Program was managed by the Joint Program Office, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, under the direction of the Designated Acquisition Commander for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence. Originally, the Services planned to procure JSIPS units. However, in 1994, the Services reduced their planned procurements to three JSIPS units due to funding constraints. The overall audit objective was to determine whether the JSIPS Program was being cost-effectively developed and procured. The audit was made using the Inspector General's "Critical Program Management Elements for Auditing Major Acquisition Programs" for a system in the engineering and manufacturing development phase of the acquisition cycle. We also evaluated the adequacy of management controls that were related to the program management elements that we evaluated. We did not evaluate the program management element of requirements evolution and affordability because those matters were being evaluated as part of Project No. 4RC-0055, "Audit of the Interoperability of Imagery Dissemination Systems," announced November 9, 1994.