Subject: Titan IV costs
From: thomsona@netcom.com (Allen Thomson)
Date: 1995/12/17
Message-Id: <thomsonaDJqr9x.7zK@netcom.com>
Newsgroups: sci.space.policy
Here's a bit more detail on how the bucks are going for Titan
IV procurement. As those with long memories will recall, the
discussion was started by a Defense News item of two weeks ago
which gave the DoD's total program cost for the T-IV as a little
over $2.6e10 in "current year dollars." For this impressive
amount, the taxpayer gets 47 launchers.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find documents of this sort for
other fiscal years -- if anyone has them, it would be
interesting to extend the T-IV spending profile to FY 96 and
also back in time.
Department of Defense Budget For Fiscal Year 1994
Program Acquisition Costs by Weapon System
US Department of Defense
Other Procurement Programs, Air Force
Space Boosters [p. 105]
Description: Provides for the procurement of Titan IV and the
refurbishment of Titan II Space Launch Vehicles. The Titan IV
can accommodate the Centaur upper stage and Inental [sic] Upper
Stage (IUS) to launch the Department's heavier space payloads.
Martin Marietta was competitively [sic, ROTFL] selected as the
prime contractor. General Dynamics produces the Centaur upper
stage and Boeing produces the IUS.
Mission: Provides consolidated launch support for requirements
common to space programs. Program provides capability to launch
critical DoD operational payloads.
Program Acquisition Costs
($ Millions)
FY 1992 FY 1993 FY 1994
Qty Amt Qty Amt Qty Amt
Item (-)* 287.5 (-) 369.4 (-) 470.6
Initial Spares - - -
_____ _____ _____
Subtotal 287.5 369.4 470.6
RDT&E 140.7 120.8 330.7
Military Construction - - -
_____ _____ _____
TOTAL 428.2 490.2 801.3
* "-" is apparently budgeteer for "none"
Note that in these three FYs the program absorbs 1.72 gigabucks
and delivers no rockets. I'd guess the hefty RDT&E is
mostly going to the T-IVB upgrade, which is supposed to fly
starting in December 1996.
The document also has the numbers for the combined Delta II
and Atlas II programs, which are given here for comparison with
the above data.
Other Procurement Programs, Air Force
Medium Launch Vehicle [p. 100]
FY 1992 FY 1993 FY 1994
Qty Amt Qty Amt Qty Amt
Item (4) 221.3 (4) 223.7 (2) 145.4
Initial Spares - - -
_____ _____ _____
Subtotal 221.3 223.7 145.4
RDT&E 40.4 49.7 58.5
Military Construction 25.0 33.0 -
_____ _____ _____
TOTAL 286.7 306.4 203.9
Finally, and just for fun, here's a quote on the T-IV from a
recent AAS meeting:
"The Titan 4 is my favorite launch vehicle. It's the only one
that violates every rule of economics. The last one coming off
the assembly line is more expensive than the one before... It's
not Lockheed Martin's fault. The intelligence community likes to
build their payloads on top of the rocket."
John Egan of Egan International, speaking 4 Dec at an American
Astronautical Society conference in Marina del Rey, CA.
Space News, 11-17 Dec 1995, p.22
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