Ukraine: DOD Should Improve Data for Both Defense Article Delivery and End-Use Monitoring
Fast Facts
Since February 2022, the U.S. has provided more than $40 billion in security assistance to Ukraine, including an unprecedented amount of equipment.
DOD has been delivering this equipment rapidly, sometimes taking days to complete deliveries that typically take weeks. But DOD doesn't have clear guidance for tracking equipment deliveries, and its delivery data may not be accurate.
Also, DOD modified its monitoring approach during the ongoing conflict but has not assessed whether it sufficiently guards against equipment loss or misuse.
Our recommendations would help DOD ensure that U.S.-origin equipment is being tracked and used appropriately in Ukraine.
Ukraine and the surrounding region
Highlights
What GAO Found
Since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022, the U.S. has provided more than $42 billion in security assistance, including defense articles, training, and services, to the government of Ukraine. U.S.-origin defense articles have been provided primarily using Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), which allows the President to transfer articles and services from U.S. stocks, and the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which the U.S. government may use to provide articles and services to Ukraine. The Department of Defense (DOD) has established new entities to deliver an unprecedented volume of defense articles to Ukraine in condensed time frames using PDA and USAI. However, DOD has not fully documented the roles and responsibilities of these new entities. Doing so would help provide clarity around the processes for quickly delivering defense articles in current and potential future conflicts...
U.S.-Origin Defense Articles Loaded from Aircraft to Truck for Delivery to Ukraine
DOD does not have quality data to track delivery of defense articles to Ukraine. DOD guidance on PDA does not clearly define at what point in the delivery process defense articles should be recorded as delivered or provide clear instructions for how DOD service branches are to confirm delivery. As a result, DOD officials sometimes record defense articles as delivered while they are in transit, weeks before they arrive in Ukraine. Additionally, DOD has not used its data systems to track the delivery of some defense articles provided under USAI. DOD officials use these data to ensure that defense articles have been delivered, to request funding for replacement of certain PDA articles, and as a baseline for conducting end-use monitoring. By taking steps to ensure the accuracy and completeness of its data, DOD will better ensure that it has the quality data needed to inform strategic decisions.
DOD has a program to monitor the end-use of all defense articles provided to Ukraine but has had to alter some traditional end-use monitoring procedures in response to the ongoing conflict. For instance, DOD has been unable to directly observe some sensitive defense articles and has allowed Ukrainian officials to self-report the status of such articles. However, DOD has not formally assessed the effectiveness of its modified approach. By conducting such an assessment, DOD will better understand whether its adjusted monitoring approach ensures that defense articles are used for the purposes for which they were provided and will have the feedback needed to inform additional policy changes.
Why GAO Did This Study
The U.S. has been a leading provider of security assistance to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion of the country on February 24, 2022. The amount and speed at which assistance has been distributed has raised questions about the need for greater efforts to monitor and ensure accountability for the defense articles provided.
Senate Report 117-130 includes a provision for GAO to review the allocation and use of security assistance in Ukraine since the start of the conflict. GAO's review examines (1) processes DOD has used to provide U.S.-origin defense articles to Ukraine, (2) the extent to which DOD has tracked the delivery of defense articles to Ukraine, and (3) the extent to which DOD and the Department of State have monitored the end-use of defense articles delivered.
GAO analyzed agency documentation; met with DOD and State officials in the U.S., Germany, and Poland; and assessed DOD data on defense article deliveries to Ukraine from August 2021 to October 2023.
Recommendations
GAO is making eight recommendations to DOD, including that DOD improve the accuracy of defense article delivery data and evaluate its end-use monitoring approach in Ukraine. DOD agreed with five recommendations and partially agreed with two. DOD disagreed with a recommendation to clarify guidance for documenting alleged end-use violations. GAO maintains that additional guidance is necessary to ensure DOD properly records allegations.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should develop new or update existing written guidance to document the roles and responsibilities of the organizational entities established for its defense article delivery process in Ukraine. (Recommendation 1) |
DOD concurred with this recommendation. When we confirm what actions DOD has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
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| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should clarify the definition of delivery to be used to populate the DOD system of record for PDA. (Recommendation 2) |
DOD concurred with GAO's recommendation. In June 2024, DSCA updated the definition of delivery in the Security Assistance Management Manual to clarify when services and articles are considered delivered and when title transfers. Implementing this recommendation will help ensure consistency in delivery data entry and accuracy during the PDA process.
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| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should develop a process to regularly assess and improve the accuracy of the delivery data in the DOD system of record for PDA. (Recommendation 3) |
In its written comments on the report, DOD partially concurred with this recommendation, and said that it would develop written guidance to clarify the processes involved in accurately recording delivery data associated with assistance provided under PDA. GAO will continue to monitor DOD's actions in response to this recommendation.
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| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should assess the process used to track delivery of defense articles provided to Ukraine using USAI—including roles, responsibilities, and data systems—and take steps to remediate any identified challenges. (Recommendation 4) |
DOD concurred with this recommendation. When we confirm what actions DOD has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
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| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should develop a process to regularly assess and improve the accuracy of the delivery data for defense articles provided to Ukraine under USAI in established data systems. (Recommendation 5) |
In its written comments on the report, DOD partially concurred with this recommendation and said that DOD it would develop written guidance to further clarify the process, including the roles and responsibilities for organizations and systems to be used to record such delivery data. GAO will continue to monitor DOD's actions in response to this recommendation.
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| Department of Defense |
Priority Rec.
The Secretary of Defense should formally evaluate the modified EUM requirements and practices in Ukraine to ensure they are meeting program objectives and use the results of the assessment to update requirements for monitoring defense articles in a hostile environment, as appropriate. (Recommendation 6) |
DOD concurred with this recommendation. When we confirm what actions DOD has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
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| Department of Defense |
Priority Rec.
The Secretary of Defense should instruct DSCA to develop a plan to track the status of routine EUM items provided under PDA in DOD data systems. (Recommendation 7) |
DOD concurred with this recommendation. When we confirm what actions DOD has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
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| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should update current DSCA guidance for tracking potential end-use violations in a hostile environment to clarify which allegations of such violations should be recorded in its master repository. (Recommendation 8) |
DOD did not concur with this recommendation. As of March 2024, DOD officials noted that existing guidance outlines the potential end-use violation reporting process. According to the guidance to which DOD referred, potential violations reported by DOD officials are entered into the master repository used to track such allegations. However, we found that with the existing guidance, DSCA officials (1) erroneously included some incidents of defense articles lost or destroyed in battle and (2) did not include at least one allegation that DOD ultimately determined to be Russian disinformation. As a result, it is unclear whether there were other allegations that should be tracked and potentially investigated. Therefore, we maintain that updating guidance as we recommended would help ensure that DOD officials understand which allegations to record in the master repository and that DOD has sufficient information to account for and address future allegations of end-use violations.
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