Military

Statement of Chairman Curt Weldon
Hearing on Tactical Aircraft and Supporting Programs

This morning the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee meets to receive testimony on tactical aircraft and related programs in the Fiscal Year 2005 budget request.

We have two panels of witnesses: The first representing the General Accounting Office to provide the Subcommittee with their views on the status of the F/A-22 and Joint Strike Fighter programs and the second, representatives of the Departments of the Navy and Air Force to provide us an update on the F/A-22 and JSF and other major tactical aircraft and related programs.

I've maintained through the years, first as Chairman of the R&D Subcommittee, again as Chairman of the Military Procurement Subcommittee, and now today that the proposed defense budgets were insufficient to adequately fund the programs included in the budget requests. This is particularly true for the tactical aircraft programs -- to include the Comanche helicopter program. Unfortunately, this is exactly what has and is happening.

Comanche has been cancelled. The F/A-22 cost increases continue to result in a reduction in aircraft, with the total buy now projected at 218 aircraft. Last year the Navy reduced its projected buy of Joint Strike Fighters by over 400 aircraft -- and the first flight of the Navy JSF is well over 3 years away. Looking at the long-term and the overall DOD budget, CBO projects an approximate 30 percent shortfall in required funding to execute the long term defense plan. Given the overall national fiscal realities, this portends further program adjustments.

The F/A-22 program began in 1986 with a plan for 750 aircraft. With the subsequent reductions related to the end of the Cold War and much smaller defense budgets, the Air Force had a procurement objective in 1998 of 381 aircraft. Since that point in time, with continued program cost increases and with the congressionally imposed cap on the production program, the Department of Defense and the GAO agree that the likely buy under the congressionally imposed procurement cost cap is approximately 218 aircraft. The good news is that progress has been made in the last year with the F/A-22, with apparent resolution of the vertical tail buffet problem and improved avionics software reliability.

Both the F/A-22 and Joint Strike Fighter are very complex systems and offer to provide our military services with superior capability. But both of these programs are costly to the American taxpayer and we must do everything we can to contain those costs.

The F/A 22 R&D and procurement costs have increased well over 100 percent. The R&D estimated cost of the Joint Strike Fighter, is already up 80 percent. In just the last year alone, the JSF R&D program has gone up 22 percent.

I appreciate the technical challenges in these programs. But when we have senior DOD representatives testify before us as to the importance of accurate costing to the credibility and integrity of the acquisition system, tell us that all of the major programs have been re-baselined for cost, and then we continue to incur double digit cost increases on an annual basis on many of our major programs, credibility does indeed suffer. If we are to make informed judgments on programs, we have to do a better job at estimating program costs.

Another area of concern is in the electronic combat mission area. DOD plans project going from one major platform, the EA-6, to at least four: the EA-18, the B-52, miniature air launched decoys, and a JSF derivative. The Joint Unmanned Combat Air System, formerly the Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle, is a fifth platform mentioned for the electronic combat role. Unfortunately, it now appears that this program has been orphaned by the Air Force and Navy and is a $700 million program in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Without service funding, we may be missing an opportunity to address a variety of strike and electronic combat requirements with what would be a truly transformational capability.

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