Page 1 GAO-24-107556
September 5, 2024
The Honorable Jack Reed
Chairman
The Honorable Roger Wicker
Ranking Member
Committee on Armed Services
United States Senate
The Honorable Mike Rogers
Chairman
The Honorable Adam Smith
Ranking Member
Committee on Armed Services
House of Representatives
S
pecial Operations Forces: Summary of Armed Overwatch Reports
U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) is responsible for acquiring a new aircraft called
Armed Overwatch and plans to invest over $2 billion in the aircraft through Fiscal Year (FY)
2029. With the Armed Overwatch program, SOCOM seeks to acquire an aircraft capable of
conducting strike, close-air support missions in austere environments, and some intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance missions.
H
ouse Report 117-118, accompanying a bill for the National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2022, included a provision that we assess SOCOM’s Armed Overwatch program.
1
In response to this provision, we provided information in two reports.
2
To complete these reports
we interviewed officials from SOCOM, Air Force Special Operations Command, and Theater
Special Operations Commands, among others. We also analyzed information they provided.
O
ur reports address the extent to which the Department of Defense has 1) evaluated SOCOM’s
analysis to support the number of Armed Overwatch aircraft to acquire and 2) determined the
capabilities Armed Overwatch needs to support SOF operations and meet mission needs. In our
first report we found that SOCOM was limited in its ability to justify the acquisition of the Armed
Overwatch aircraft for three reasons. First, because SOCOM decided on the size of the fleet
before conducting required analyses. Second, SOCOM did not assess how changes in the
aircraft’s capabilities could affect the number needed for operations. And third, that SOCOM has
1
H.R. Rep. No. 117-118, at 36-37 (2021).
2
GAO, Special Operations Forces: DOD Should Slow Acquisition of Armed Overwatch Aircraft Until It Conducts
Needed Analysis, GAO-24-106283, (Washington, D.C.: December 14, 2023) and GAO, Special Operations Forces:
DOD Should Reassess Its Need to Acquire Armed Overwatch Aircraft, GAO-24-106993C, (Washington D.C.:
September 4, 2024).
