Counterstatement of US Rep. Neil Abercrombie to a CAGW press release

18:37 GMT, October 2, 2009 defpro.com | On 30 September 2009 defpro.com published an official press release from Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Alternate Engine (see: http://www.defpro.com/news/details/10131/). Directly responding to this press release, US Representative Neil Abercrombie (HI-01) sent an exclusive statement to the attention of defpro.com which we here reproduced with consent of the author. Mr. Abercrombie chairs the House Armed Services Committee’s Air-Land Forces Subcommittee, with oversight responsibility for the F-35 acquisition program.


Rep. Neil Abercrombie:

In the news release [see above], the CAGW organization misstates facts.

For example, CAGW cites a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report which, they claim, called the second engine unwanted and unnecessary. However, the GAO’s Managing Director of Public Affairs wrote CAGW on August 11th and said, “We have never made such a claim.”

A CAGW ‘Pork Alert’ suggests that GAO has said it would cost the equivalent of 53 aircraft to pay for the alternate engine program. Again from GAO: “We have never made any such comparison. We request that you correct these misleading statements as soon as possible.” CAGW has ignored both responses.

The concept of an alternate engine is simply to have another company ready to manufacture a second power plant for the F-35 if problems arise with the first. Such a competition benefits industry and the consumer through cost savings and in increased pressure for technical innovation. Since, the tri-service F-35 will represent nearly 90% of our country’s operational fighter aircraft in the next few decades, it seems prudent to provide a second source for engines in case the original design runs into further problems.

Sound far-fetched? That original design has already had three ground test failures, including one last month. What’s more, that engine is now 50% over budget from the 2008 estimate, and development and production continue to experience delays.

What are the chances any continuing problems could occur? In the late 1970s, the Air Force awarded a similar sole source engine contract for the F-15. The result? A large percentage of our first line fighter aircraft had to be grounded because the engine was neither reliable nor durable. It took ‘the Great Engine War’ to correct the problem — an urgent, expensive effort to build a competitive, alternate engine.

In addition to the wisdom of having a back-up, top Pentagon officials are on record that competition between suppliers is actually a good thing.

“Ashton Carter [Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics] says he wants to promote as much competition as possible … Carter says he ‘wishes’ there was more competition in the [defense] industrial base.” (Aerospace Daily, 9-8-9)

And, in addition to the fundamental wisdom of having a back-up engine, Secretary Carter’s competition would actually save the taxpayer money. In a definitive study in 2007, the Department of Defense concluded that an F-35 engine program with a traditional, sole-source contract would cost $110 billion. But, hiring two competing manufacturers would cost $107.8 billion. Savings to the taxpayer? $2.2 billion.

The DOD [Department of Defense] study also cited the other benefits of competition: force readiness, technological innovation, and increased responsiveness from having competing contractors.


----
Congressman Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) is a senior Member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He is Chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Air and Land Forces, with critical oversight responsibilities for U.S. Army and Air Force operations, budget, and equipment and weapons systems procurement. Additionally, Congressman Abercrombie serves as a member of the Readiness Subcommittee which considers issues such as building and maintaining the U.S. military’s state of readiness. For more information on Neil Abercrombie visit http://www.house.gov/abercrombie/.