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GERMAN KZO DRONE CRITICISED BY FEDERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE

The German Federal Armed Forces' Kleinfluggerät für Zielortung (KZO) procurement programme first started life back in 1980. Also known under the name of Brevel, the aim of the project is to develop a reconnaissance and target location unmanned air vehicle (UAV) for use by the German Army. But the Federal Accounting Office (FAO) is unimpressed with progress achieved to date. "At the end of an unusually long development period a number of serious technical faults were manifest, despite the cost of the system having doubled. These will lead to considerable financial risks during procurement." So goes the verdict in the recently published Annual Report 2000.

"The military and technical requirements which the UAV was intended to satisfy were partly unclear," we are told, and "moreover, the development results to date have not adequately met the system performance requirements. A study indicated that the probability of survival was so low that, when deployed, the stock of drones could be exhausted after a single day's fighting. The budget allowed for the project by the [Defence] Ministry did not cover the minimum numbers viewed as necessary by the military."

On the cost side, the picture presented by the FAO is grim. "The system price had almost doubled since 1992 from around DM 65 million to approx. DM 115 million. In order to keep overall costs within budget, management reduced the number of drone systems (ground station with UAVs) to be procured from thirteen to eight."

Development and procurement will now have cost more than DM 1.1 billion, and the manner in which some of the funding was obtained has infringed budget laws. Amongst other things the FAO criticises the use of funds earmarked for Special Plan 60 and the intended use of procurement funds to cover development work. But above all the FAO criticises the fact that significantly cheaper alternatives were not examined in sufficient detail.

Despite all the problems, the Defence Ministry is sticking with the KZO project. It is argued that the UAV's capabilities are indispensable to the Army's artillery reconnaissance, and the military requirements can only be satisfied through a mix of drone systems. But they are virtually the only ones to hold this view. As the FAO points out, "The decision by France to withdraw from the project suggests that the military and technological value of the new drone is low." To their French colleagues the conclusions to be drawn from reviewing the project were clear. "The military requirement for this drone ceased to be relevant ten years ago," is the curt comment of the French.

From page 64 of FLUG REVUE 1/2001