Washington Monthly - September/October 2014 - 13

TIlTINg aT wINDmIlls

to pick BP's pocket. Other beneficiaries include the New York Times and the Washington Post, which have received millions of
dollars' worth of full-page BP ads whining
about the bilking.

Use Amazon to order an X-47B
Defense-bill markup time in Washington annually leads to military contractors purchasing local advertising. The
Northrop Grumman X-47B was touted in
Post ads, while the news station WTOP
ran spots extolling the P-8 antisubmarine aircraft. Military funding ads
feature flag waving and misrepresentation. Boeing bought full pages declaring that ending construction of the EA18G electronic warfare jet would "leave
the U.S. Navy without future Growlers."
Classic half-truth: the Navy already has
100 of the planes, more than needed for
any contingency. If patriotism is the last
refuge of scoundrels, defense contracting
is the last refuge of crony capitalism.
At the start of a defense budget cycle,
the White House and the Pentagon propose dramatic cuts. Once members of Congress have maxed out campaign donations
and promotional appearances at military
bases, they add back everything, a process
known on the Hill as "plus-up."
The United States has ten supercarriers-versus zero for the rest of the
world. Five years ago the Enterprise, the
oldest carrier in the fleet-christened in
the Eisenhower administration-was slated for decommissioning. Congress insisted on a $662 million plus-up. Even afterward, the Enterprise was barely functional,
and now she is being scrapped, the extra
money pure waste. When this budget cycle kicked off, the White House proposed
to dry-dock the George Washington, leaving the United States with a 9-0 advantage over the rest of the world, with two
super-advanced supercarriers under construction. House and Senate members
plussed-up the Washington. That will keep
the Austrian navy in check!
Important procurement fights concern
the Air Force's A-10 antitank plane, the
Navy's littoral combat ship (LCS), and the
Army's years-long bungling of the need for
modern armor. The A-10 has been praised

in these pages, and in James Fallows's 1982 ect, the Future Combat System, that never
National Defense-a book that has stood led to hardware. A successor, the Ground
the test of time well-for being a relative- Combat Vehicle, faces cancellation. Pentaly inexpensive, reliable jet based on rugged gon procurement is so badly mismanaged
low tech. Its design is dated, but proven: that half of the world's defense spending
in Iraq and Afghanistan, the plane per- occurs in the United States, yet modernformed well. Soldiers love the A-10 because ization of U.S. armor is overdue.
Then there's the littoral combat ship,
its mission is close-air support of Army
and Marine units in battle. The Air Force which, like the F-35, has persistent techdislikes the A-10 for the same reason. Fly- nical faults. Lead ships of the class are
boys want to soar high in the sky, not come the Freedom and the Independence, whose
names are a lot better than their perfordown to the deck to aid grunts.
Now the Air Force proposes to retire the mance. The LCS is a corvette the Navy beA-10, leaving the United States without a gan designing a decade ago, to control
close-support jet. Getting rid of the A-10 the Guinea Coast of Africa. This was forewould allow the Air Force to argue that the sight on the Navy's part; at the time, the
F-35 is needed for the air-to-ground role- U.S. oil boom had not happened, and milthough this plane was designed for air- itary analysts believed the nation would
to-air missions. The F-35 is the Air Force's become dependent on African petroleum.
number-one funding priority, and the Instead oil imports are declining, and the
treasure chest of Lockheed Martin, the less the United States has to do with Nigeria, the better. Shallow-draft and light on
world's largest defense contractor.
Adjusting for inf lation, F-35 program cost
If patriotism is the last refuge of
has grown 71 percent in
the past decade, to $400
scoundrels, defense contracting is
billion, the largest dethe last refuge of crony capitalism.
fense contract ever. Yet
the F-35 sputters in trials; in July, F-35s were
grounded after one caught fire on the firepower, the LCS is unsuited to the bluerunway. The F-35 has been in production water duties that are the Navy's core misfor eight years, but still is not ready for sion. Production has been cut from fiftycombat. The Air Force so yearns to ratio- two to thirty-two, with further reductions
nalize blank checks for this clunker-it's in store.
When the Pentagon's 2015 budget was
the Spruce Goose of stealth-that the
two-star James Jones told a congressio- released, dropping the planned LCS buy,
nal committee that if the service doesn't several pundits wrung their hands that
win permission to junk the A-10, it will America was becoming weak. The boat
is a white elephant! The mainstream merespond by retiring all B-1 bombers.
As the Air Force made known that dia's grasp of military affairs is shown by
it would go to the mat for F-35 money, LCS commentary in another way. For years
Lockheed Martin's stock price soared the Navy has employed a cover story that
from $115 to $170. Defenders of the blank the purpose of the LCS is to chase pirates.
checks include New Hampshire Senators Coast Guard cutters are ideal for that role,
Kelly Ayotte (Republican) and Jeanne which does not require the missiles an LCS
Shaheen (Democrat), because the Gran- carries. As best I am aware, no major newsite State won some F-35 subcontracts- paper reported that the LCS was designed
showing that pork transcends both par- for use off the coast of Africa.
At least the House Armed Services Comty and gender.
As for the Army, its M1 main tank and mittee had its priorities in order. The chairM2 light tank need to be replaced: both man named this year's defense bill after
are too heavy for likely uses, and lack long- himself, announcing-I am not making
range weapons. The Army threw billions this up-the Howard P. "Buck" McKeon
out the window on an advanced-tank proj- National Defense Authorization Act.
Washington Monthly

Washington Monthly - September/October 2014

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