Defense Technology International - March 2008 - (Page 22)

DISPATCHES GLOBAL INTERNATIONAL Contracts for production of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (International’s prototype version is shown) will reﬂect a more competitive procurement strategy by the Pentagon. aged into a single subsystem. Issues of size, weight, power, e ciency and heat are all related. “We’re working closely with them,” he says. From a cost perspective, the next few years are critical to JSF. The 16 Fiscal 2009 aircraft will cost $229 million each, more than the 12 aircraft in Fiscal 2008. Between FY2009 and FY2012, the production rate increases sixfold, to 118 aircraft per year from 19. If the cost does not come down the learning curve quickly, the low-rate initial production (LRIP) batches are going to consume a lot of money. Also, increases in the LRIP price will increase the pressure on export customers to slip their purchases to the right, further cutting production rates (DTI January/February, p. 16). Any price increases also run into another problem: the Air Force doesn’t know where it will get the money to buy all the JSFs it wants, even at the planned price. Lt. Gen. Raymond Johns, USAF deputy chief of sta for strategic plans and programs, told the conference that USAF won’t be able to a ord the planned 110 JSFs a year under its projected total obligational authority (TOA). F-16s “will be coming out of the force at a rate of 100 a year from 2014,” he said. “With our TOA, we can buy 48 JSFs per year, 22 and the ﬁghter force declines to 1,400 aircraft.” JSF plans call for the U.S. total buy to reach 130 aircraft in 2015, with deliveries in 2017. USAF does not have an internal solution to the problem, which would almost halve U.S. purchases in the peak production years, pushing production costs upward by an unknown amount. “I can’t take more people out,” Johns said, “because I’m playing football with 10 players as it is, and we don’t know where to go with infrastructure. It’s a question of the right level of GDP to go to defense.” But if the same people who are running Congress today are there in 2012, that argument may not ﬂy. That said, the defense professionals sometimes make a case that Congress is part of the problem. “I’d like to see the GAO (Government Accountability Ofﬁce, which is often critical of Pentagon management) look at funding instability,” Finley remarked, citing studies showing that one dollar pulled out of an early-year budget means many dollars by the end of the program. While Abercrombie fumes at the use of supplemental appropriations to fund capital spending programs, like new aircraft, USAF Secretary Michael Wynne had a counter-argument: supplementals may be appropriate when wartime operations wear out the ﬂeet. Pentagon people and civilian appointees can cite examples of “earmarking. ” House appropriations defense subcommittee Chairman Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), asked about alternative energy at the conference, was quick to cite two Pentagon-funded studies in his home state. Politicians also advocate solutions that may not be effective in the long term, or ideas that the professionals have to respond to with care. Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.), chair of the seapower and expeditionary warfare subcommittee, spoke in favor of expanding the number of nuclear-powered ships in the Navy, saying that at “$90 per barrel for oil, nuclear power is a slam-dunk” even for amphibious transports. Vice Adm. David Architzel, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, responded that the Navy did “70-plus studies” to confirm the need for nuclear power even on the CVN-78 aircraft carrier, on the grounds of size, autonomy and speed. The Navy, Taylor countered, is “resistant to change.” I AviationWeek.com/dti DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2008 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aw/dti0108/index.php?startid=16 http://www.aviationweek.com/dti

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Defense Technology International - March 2008 Contents Sweden Cancels SEP; Israel Launches Imaging Satellite; Geotextiles Secure Ammo Dump U.S. Navy Taps Neural Architecture Software to Assure Job Satisfaction Shrapnel-Like Pieces of Reactive Materials Increase Explosive Force of Bombs Technology is Rapidly Closing the Gap Between Sensors and Shooters Italian Army Program Aims to Develop a Fully Networked Land Force Political and Military Uncertainties Plague U.S. Defense Budget Democrats Put Pentagon on Notice Over Spending and Policy at DTAR Conference Russian Combat Vehicle Protects Tank Formations from Anti-Armor Weapons European Battlelabs Use Simulation to Verify Technologies and Stretch Defense Funds Malaysia Accelerates Fleet Modernization to meet Long-Term Goals U.S. Navy Says Composite Raiding Boat May Reduce Injuries From Wave Shocks Seeing Isn’t Believing When it Comes to Deciphering Funds for Secret Projects Advances in Sensors and Propulsion Make Torpedoes Ever More Lethal FAA is in No Rush to Approve Rules that Let UAVs Fly in Civil Airspace USS Truman Carrier Strike Group Patrols a Rough Neighborhood 24/7 U.S. says Sino-Russian Space Disarmament Plan is Riddled with Pitfalls Hyperspeed Projectile; “Sound Cloak” Hides Subs; Improving Nuclear Forensics Dutch Air Commodore Theo ten Haaf Analyzes the Impact of Rotary-Wing Operations One Soldier’s War is a Behind-the-Headlines Look at Russia’s Campaigns in Chechnya Black Budgets are Huge and Growing, and Often Conceal Amazing Failures

Defense Technology International - March 2008

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