The Department of Defense (DOD) is falling short in tracking the health of the defense supplier base, according to a new report from the nonpartisan watchdog agency, the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Except for keeping tabs on problems with suppliers needed for missile defense programs, the DOD isn’t tracking well areas where suppliers may be disappearing, according to the report prepared for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee national security and foreign affairs subcommittee.

"DOD’s efforts to monitor its supplier base lack a departmentwide framework and consistent approach," the GAO found. "Its monitoring efforts generally respond to individual program supplier-base concerns or are broader assessments of selected sectors."

The GAO doesn’t say that DOD isn’t making an effort here, only that the effort is spotty or incomplete.

"As part of its supplier-base monitoring efforts, DOD has also previously identified lists of critical items — which according to DOD’s Office of Industrial Policy … do not reflect the dynamic changes that occur in industry, technology, and DOD requirements," the report continued.

"While DOD recently established criteria for identifying supplier-base characteristics that could be problem indicators — such as sole-source suppliers and obsolete or emerging technologies — these criteria have primarily been applied to the missile and space sectors and have not been used to guide the identification and monitoring of supplier- base concerns for all sectors departmentwide," the report cautioned.

DOD discovers supplier shortage problems on an ad hoc basis, without a formal reporting requirement, the report stated.

Some 16 out of 20 defense programs surveyed suffered supplier shortages, or four out of five programs (80 percent).

Sometimes a contract must be given on a sole-source basis because there is only one supplier left in the field, the report noted.

Problems with obsolescence or sole-sourcing occurred in many programs, including the AGM-114 Hellfire Air-to-Ground/Air-to-Air Guided Missile, the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missile, the RIM-162 NATO Evolved Seasparrow Missile System, the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) High satellite program, and the Space Tracking Surveillance System satellite, among others, the report stated.

The report recommended that DOD fully apply criteria to identify and monitor supplier- base concerns and create reporting requirements for when to elevate concerns about supplier-base gaps.

According to the GAO, DOD agreed to fully apply and publish criteria for elevating supplier-base concerns, but does not agree that formal reporting requirements are needed for prime contractors.

GAO, however, said DOD "needs a mechanism to ensure that information flows to the program office and higher levels within DOD as needed."

The report titled "Department of Defense: A Departmentwide Framework to Identify and Report Gaps in the Defense Supplier Base Is Needed" can be read in full by going to http://www.gao.gov on the Web.