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 Making defense cuts seen tough for McCain, Obama, Reuters, By Andrea Shalal-Esa, July 21, 2008.Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama both emphasize the need to curb Pentagon costs and focus on weapons relevant to today's wars, but canceling big programs will be difficult no matter who is elected president. Conventional wisdom holds that Democrats tend to scale back defense spending, but McCain, a leading member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has a long history of criticizing waste in Defense Department programs. That has prompted speculation about declining orders for big defense contractors like Lockheed Martin Corp, Boeing Co, Northrop Grumman Corp, General Dynamics Corp, Raytheon Co, and others. … But defense analysts agree a host of factors will make it tough for Obama or McCain to quickly scale back big weapons projects. Key issues include the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an urgent need to replace billions of dollars of equipment worn out in those conflicts, homeland defense needs, plus a long history of intervention by lawmakers to protect high-paying defense jobs in their home districts. "It's very difficult to kill weapons programs," said Nick Schwellenbach of the Project on Government Oversight, a nonpartisan watchdog group. "Even if you did have a McCain or Obama administration go after major weapons programs, the contractors and their congressional allies would keep those programs alive -- even on life support." … Lawmakers frequently talk about the need to reform defense spending, but even the end of the Cold War and pressure to generate a "peace dividend" did not result in the outright cancellation of many programs, Schwellenbach said. Vice President Dick Cheney did manage to cancel some big programs, including Northrop's B-2 bomber, when he served as defense secretary under former President George Bush, but Boeing and General Dynamics are still fighting legal battles over Cheney's 1991 termination of the A-12 stealth fighter. Cheney tried to cut the V-22 tilt-rotor aircraft built by Boeing and Bell Helicopter, a unit of Textron Inc, but it ultimately survived, and the planes are now in use in Iraq. Once a program has started, proponents fight to maintain funding since "so much has been spent already," or if it's early in the program, for continuing development efforts and transferring results to other projects later, Schwellenbach said. Two months into Iraq, $20 billion Osprey closely watched, Medill Reports, by Jeremy Gantz and Jessica Desvarieux, December 6, 2007.“Revolutionary” to some but an “expensive truck” to others, the long-awaited V-22 Osprey aircraft is still polarizing U.S. military observers two months into its first-ever deployment. Officials say the hybrid aircraft, which takes off and lands like a helicopter but flies like a plane, is doing exactly what it was designed to do: carry troops and supplies over long distances at more than twice the speed of the Vietnam-era helicopters the Ospreys are replacing. But critics, including the Pentagon’s former top weapons tester, say the 10 Ospreys now in Iraq are being used gingerly to avoid combat situations and accidents. ... Darcy says the Osprey’s high cost - each one is about $69 million, or $120 million if total development costs are factored - is worth it. “What we’re fielding is an entirely new class of aircrafts,” Darcy said at Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland, where the Osprey was developed. “It’s as much of a revolution in technology as fielding the jet or the initial helicopters.” The military has said they fill a longstanding gap between helicopters and planes, allowing combat-ready Marines to be quickly dropped deep inside of enemy territory. Their mission radius is nearly 500 miles. “The Marine Corps has pretty much bet the future of Marine aviation on the V-22,” said Nick Schwellenbach, national security investigator at the nonprofit Project on Government Oversight in Washington. “But the cost per unit of these things is so prohibitive, they’re only going to be able to buy so many,” he said Wednesday. “And will they risk a $120 million machine, that may be hard to replace? I don’t know.” Last month, Congress appropriated $2.72 billion for 26 new Ospreys, including 21 for the Marine Corps. The rest will go to the Air Force. “At the end of the day, $120 million is I think too much to pay for this,” Schwellenbach said. “It would be great if it really was revolutionary. I’m doubtful though.” Combat Mission Two Decades in the Making, Washington Post, by Renae Merle, April 14, 2007.After more than 20 years in development at a cost of billions of dollars, the long-troubled V-22 Osprey will head to Iraq in September for its first combat missions, the Marine Corps said yesterday. The tilt-rotor Osprey, a helicopter-airplane hybrid, has survived attempts by the Pentagon leadership to cancel it, criticism of its rising cost and unique design, and three fatal accidents since 1992. ... Skeptics argue that the Osprey is too expensive to be used widely or put in risky situations. It may be suitable for specialty missions such as long-range rescue or special-operations deployments, but "those relatively few missions don't justify putting all of the Marines' chips behind the V-22," said Jennifer Gore, spokeswoman for the Project on Government Oversight, a watchdog group. The Marine Corps could buy fewer Ospreys -- 50 or so -- and make a larger purchase of a cheaper helicopter, she said. Congressional Research Service report, "V-22 Osprey Tilt-Rotor Aircraft," updated March 13, 2007. POGO letter to Senators Levin and McCain regarding the Pentagon request for multiple fixed wing aircraft as part of the FY 2007 Emergency Supplemental Request for the Global War on Terror, March 22, 2007. Osprey helicopter nears overseas deployment, Govexec.com, March 20, 2007, by Megan Scully (CongressDaily)The Marine Corps is expected to announce in early April the much-anticipated details of the V-22 Osprey's first overseas deployment, a move that will intensify the debate over whether the tilt-rotor aircraft with a tumultuous 25-year history is ready for battle. … So far, Congress has poured more than $20 billion into the program, but its checkered history has been punctuated by four crashes, including one in Arizona in April 2000 that killed 19 Marines. The Osprey crashed again eight months later in North Carolina, killing four Marines. Last month, the Marines briefly grounded the V-22s because of a computer chip problem. Todd Bowers, a Marine Corps veteran who witnessed the Arizona crash, said he is skeptical about the V-22's impending deployment and is not convinced of the hybrid aircraft's survivability in combat. "I think it would be smarter to have more rigorou s testing and more thorough testing and more in-depth analysis of that testing," said Bowers, now a Marine Corps reservist and a defense investigator at the nonprofit watchdog group Project on Government Oversight. Bowers is certainly not alone in his criticisms of the program. Earlier this year, the Center for Defense Information released a stinging report titled "V-22 Osprey: Wonder Weapon or Widow Maker?" Marine Corps Grounds V-22 Osprey Aircraft, The Washington Post, February 10, 2007, By Renae Merle.The Marine Corps said yesterday it was temporarily grounding its fleet of V-22 Osprey tilt rotors after discovering a glitch in a computer chip that could cause the aircraft to lose control....While none of the aircraft has been sent into the combat despite more than 20 years in development, the Osprey has regained support in the military in recent years. ..."This plane has been in production for over 25 years, costs more than $100 million each, and is scheduled to go into combat this summer," said Todd Bowers, defense investigator for Project On Government Oversight, a watchdog group. "I guess we are seeing the results of the extremely weak testing done on this aircraft, which is disconcerting since it will possibly be carrying troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. If it can't stand a little cold weather how can it handle a war zone?" Lawmakers Settle 2006 Supplemental, by William Matthews, Defense News, June 12, 2006.After months of sometimes acrimonious debate, the U.S. House and Senate Appropriations committees finally reached agreement on an emergency funding bill that will give the U.S. military $65.8 billion to keep fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. President George W. Bush requested $65.3 billion. Agreement comes about two weeks after the Defense Department warned it was about to run out of money to spend on the wars. … The Project on Government Oversight, a spending watchdog organization, criticized lawmakers for shifting money from battlefield necessities such as night-vision goggles to pay for the V-22s. Spend more on troops, less on projects. Marine Corps Times, June 5, 2006. With congressional negotiators hoping to complete a wartime funding bill by Friday, a public policy group is trying to get lawmakers to spend more money on gear for ground troops by eliminating pet projects. The Project On Government Accountability, known as POGO, sent a letter to Congress on Friday asking House and Senate negotiators to remove a Senate provision that orders the purchase of three V-22 Ospreys by cutting $230 million from funding for night-vision goggles, lightly armored vehicles and other equipment replacements. … POGO’s letter about the shifting funds says this “is an example of a government expenditure that would be irresponsible and would waste taxpayer dollars.” The letter, signed by Danielle Brian, POGO’s executive director, says the Osprey “has an unacceptably high failure rate and high cost,” and asks lawmakers to remove “this wrongheaded provision.” “Removing the provision would help avoid placing the troops who are fighting on our behalf in even more danger unnecessarily,” the letter says. POGO Alert - POGO Urges Congress to Restore Funding for Equipment Being Used in
POGO's Letter to Congress Regarding Removal of Funding for Night Vision Goggles for the Troops, June 1, 2006. read this letter » POGO Alert - POGO Questions Senate's Move to Fund Troubled Aviation Programs Instead of Supporting War Fighters, April 26, 2006. read this alert » Emergency Supplemental Appropriations that removes funding for Night Vision Equipment and transfers it to the portion of the supplemental for Naval Aircraft Procurement – specifically the V-22 Osprey. On the Top of the list is a request for three new V-22 Ospreys with a hefty price tag of 230 million. President Bush has stated that he will veto the bill if there is any spending that does not directly contribute to the war in Iraq or Hurricane Katrina relief. The V-22 Osprey has never been utilized in the war in Iraq or Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Senate Report 109-230, Calendar 391, April 2006. The Flawed V-22 Osprey and the Marine Corps, Everest E. Riccioni, Col. USAF, Ret., March 16, 2006. read this report » New Snags Arise for the Osprey, Philadelphia Inquirer, November 5, 2005.Though it was approved for production by the Defense Department in September, the V-22 Osprey aircraft, much of which is to be built by Boeing Co. in Delaware County, has yet to satisfy its many critics. read this article » POGO Alert - V-22 Engines Freeze: Can't Fly Through Clouds, October 25, 2005. read this alert » Pentagon Approves Full-Rate V-22 Production, Reuters, September 29, 2005.Five years after 23 U.S. Marines were killed in flight tests, the Pentagon on Wednesday approved full-rate production of the V-22 tiltrotor aircraft, built by Textron Inc. unit Bell Helicopter and Boeing Co. A letter certifying the V-22 for full-rate production from Under Secretary for Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Kenneth Krieg to Vice President Cheney, the Speaker of the House and members of congressional defense committees. September 8, 2005. V-22 Osprey Program: Report on Operational and Live Fire Test and Evaluation from the Pentagon’s Office of the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation, September 2005. CRS Report For Congress, V-22 Osprey Tilt-Rotor Aircraft, Updated January 7, 2005. POGO Alert - In a 2000 survey, Marines rank-and-file were highly critical of some of the V-22 Osprey's "human factors." July 13, 2004. V-22 Osprey portion of the Pentagon's Department of Operational Test and Evaluation 2003 Annual Report. The Pentagon used to make this report publicly available on the web, but is no longer doing so. POGO has scanned in the reports of eleven of the biggest or most troubled systems. April 16, 2004. POGO Alert - POGO Makes Public V-22 Osprey Test Report. The Pentagon's Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, Thomas Christie, says in a new report he is "concerned" that testing has not yet proven the V-22 Osprey Tilt-Rotor aircraft to be "operationally effective." May 20, 2003.
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