Army Purchasing Losses Put in Millions

Because it did not want to take a chance on disrupting delivery schedules, the Army Missile Command has been spending millions more than necessary to buy certain missile parts from prime contractors instead of directly from manufacturers, according to a Pentagon audit released Friday.

The audit, by the Defense Department’s inspector general, said that it is impossible to determine the total of “excessive prices” paid by the Army’s Redstone Arsenal in Alabama “due to routine destruction of documentation.”

However, by using incomplete records, the audit estimated that, between 1972 and 1984, the arsenal spent from $19 million to $28 million more than necessary on just one key part--an optical sight for the TOW anti-tank missile launcher.

The most recent contract, awarded in March, 1984, calls for the purchase of 427 optical sights at about $25,000 each, but the auditors estimated that $4.3 million could have been saved by buying directly from the manufacturer.

The audit said that the arsenal could have saved roughly $242,500 on a $1.3-million contract awarded in 1982 for an off-the-shelf “computer-support equipment” for the Pershing 2 missile system if it had gone directly to the computer manufacturer.

The audit, dated March 15, does not fault any of the companies involved, making clear that it was up to the arsenal to decide how it was going to procure the parts.

Telephone calls to an Army spokesman at the Redstone Arsenal were not returned Friday.

According to the inspector general’s office, the audit was prompted by an anonymous call to the Defense Department’s complaint hot line last year.