BARR: $1.7 Trillion Weapon System Plagued By Cost And Performance Problems
Summary
Most taxpayers would agree, even if at times grudgingly, that the top priority for expenditure of federal dollars is our national defense, including the technology and hardware with which to win wars, that is, weapon systems. As stated by the U.S. Department of Defense in a recent “Program Acquisition Cost by Weapon System,” the goal of this crucial component of our national defense is simple: to ensure that the weapon systems available to and utilized by our men and women in uniform “are unmatched throughout the world, ensuring that U.S. military forces have the advantage over any adversary.” Few objective observers would dispute the proposition that our fighting forces and global capabilities remain the best in the world. There is, however, considerable room to debate whether the actual weapons systems and related military technology in use currently and planned for the coming decades represents the most efficient and wisest use of taxpayer resources. Not only has the plane failed to meet cost and delivery requirements, but its primary contractor, Lockheed Martin, has been able to secure additional taxpayer-funded contracts to correct those very deficiencies; in other words, to be paid more money to fix problems in its initial manufacturing processes. Whether plans for the “sixth generation” fighter (the F-35 being the “fifth”) will result finally in scaling back the problem-plagued F-35 program, or if new contracts will be awarded on a more traditional and market-driven basis, remains to be seen; but if not, American taxpayers will be in for another, possibly more costly fleecing.