Offered without comment:
Begin Quote
Department of Defense
Office of the Inspector General -- Audit
Procurement of M4 Carbines -- Report No. 97-165(PDF)
Date: June 17, 1997
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
To obtain copies of Office of the Assistant Inspector General for Auditing
Reports, contact the Secondary Reports Distribution Unit of the Analysis,
Planning and Technical Support Directorate at (703) 604-8937 or FAX (703)
604-8932.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This audit was requested by members of the Congressional delegation from
Connecticut who were concerned with the Army and Navy's failure to safeguard
the Colt's Manufacturing Company, Inc. technical data package. The members
also questioned the procurement process for a sole source contract awarded
to Colt's by the Army that was subsequently terminated. The primary
objectives were to determine whether Colt's technical data package for the
M4A1 carbine was improperly released to Colt's competitors, and if the
government violated procurement regulations when it terminated the contract
with Colt's.
Both the Army and Navy failed to protect Colt's M4A1 carbine technical data
package from improper release. An Army engineer inappropriately released the
M4A1 carbine technical data package to the Navy. The Navy originally
requested the technical data package for internal use, but inappropriately
released it to 21 contractors in a solicitation for M4A1 adapter kits. The
Army and the Navy took steps to remedy the disclosure, as is provided for in
Article XX of the license agreement. We were unable to determine what, if
any, effect the disclosure had on Colt's future sales of M4 carbines. The
Army was within its rights to terminate the M4 carbine contract with Colt's;
however, Army made numerous administrative and clerical errors during the
procurement of the M4.
End Quote