Justifying the move, the Defense Department said adversaries could use AI and other tools to “compile disparate, unclassified data points [from the reports] into highly detailed vulnerability profiles targeting [U.S.] critical infrastructure and defense capabilities.”
In 1983, Congress created the Office of the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) to provide independent guidance and oversight to the services to test weapons. The move followed concerns that compromised testing practices repeatedly allowed for underperforming weapons systems to be deployed in the field.
“The office was created in response to stories of a whole bunch of soldiers and Marines dying with M16s in their hands,” Greg Williams, the director of the Project on Government Oversight’s Center for Defense Information, tells RS. The rifles had been used in Vietnam despite known ammunition and jamming issues — left unresolved during testing, in the rush to get the guns to the troops.
The DOT&E office’s annual reports have also been a critical source of information for the public about the status of key weapons programs.
Let’s face this info is d*mn embarrassing for the Defense Industry.