Several large US military projects under fire

by David Dieudonne Sat Mar 17, 1:36 PM ET

The Pentagon is facing mounting criticism over the awarding of several large contracts because of deficiencies and irregularities in the procurement of new age military machines.

Thursday, the US Government Accountability Office, a congressional agency responsible for keeping tabs on federal spending, revealed delays in developing an advanced combat Joint Strike Fighter and costs had swollen 12 percent.

"Total JSF program acquisition costs (through 2027) have increased by 31.6 billion dollars," the GAO said.

Wednesday, the US Coast Guard withdrew a contract from Lockheed Martin and Northrop Gumman to steer the procurement of 12 patrol boats, saying it could better "ensure full and open competition, and control costs" by doing the work in-house.

The 24-billion dollar "Deepwater" project launched after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States was to provide for progressive modernization and recapitalization of the aging Coast Guard fleet over 25 years.

In December, the New York Times exposed several deficiencies in the program, launched in June 2002 to better protect America's coasts against possible terrorist attacks. They included hull cracks, engine breakdowns, design flaws and electronic equipment that was not sufficiently waterproofed.

The construction of the high-speed vessel was already scrapped once because they were deemed too heavy, guzzled too much fuel and problems with their propulsion systems arose, the newspaper said.

"You will see changes shortly in the Coast Guard in our acquisition organization," fleet commander Admiral Thad Allen had predicted then. "It will be significantly different than we have done in the past."

Late February, doubt was coast over another major military purchase worth 10 billion dollars -- Boeing's construction of 141 combat search and rescue helicopters (CSAR) for the US Air Force.

The GAO recognized that Boeing competitors Sikorsky (United Technologies) and Lockheed Martin had valid concerns about the current bidding process.

"We recommend that the Air Force amend the solicitation to clarify its intent with respect to evaluation of Operations and Support costs, reopen discussions with offerors consistent with our conclusions above, and then request revised proposals," the GAO said.

But Boeing chief executive Jim McNerney told the Financial Times in March: "I do not think there will be a full-blown re-compete on the helicopter competition."

These complications come at the worst time for the Air Force.

Already facing a poor rating over contracts granted to Boeing for the renewal of its supply aircrafts, then canceled, the Air Force is under intense scrutiny by Congress.

The House Armed Services Committee held hearings on March 7 on the Air Force's procurement plans, some accusing the Pentagon of rigging the bidding process for supply planes to favor Boeing over consortium EADS/Northrop.