Chambliss upset over F-35 delays

Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., is alleging that the Department of Defense failed to heed warnings about delays with the development of the F-35 aircraft, a program plagued with cost overruns and production delays.

The Air Force initially planned to field its first F-35 in 2013, but the Pentagon now concedes that time schedule will need to be pushed back.

In an interview from his Washington office, Chambliss said production of the F-22, an aircraft assembled in Marietta, would have been extended “without question” had the Pentagon presented internal doubts about its F-35 production schedule.

“If we had been able to tell members of the Senate last year that we’re looking at a wider gap we knew about, then I just don’t think there’s any question that the F-22 would not have been canceled,” Chambliss said.

Production of the F-22 was ended last summer by a Senate floor vote. President Obama had threatened to veto any defense spending measure that included funds for the F-22 beyond the 187 aircraft already purchased for the Air Force fleet.

Chambliss acknowledged that any effort to revive the F-22 production line would be quixotic at best. Hopes that the Boeing-Lockheed Martin F-22 production team could continue producing the F-22 to sell the aircraft to the Japanese government also have faded.

“Frankly, the Pentagon’s done everything in their power to shut down any foreign military sales,” Chambliss said.

The F-35 program has been beset by production delays since last year. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates last month fired a Marine two-star general who had been charged with overseeing the program’s development.

The subject of the delays led to a combative exchange between Chambliss and Air Force Secretary Mike Donley on March 4 during Donley’s testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Chambliss pointed to a November 2008 report by the Department of Defense’s Joint Estimating Team that foretold cost overruns and delays with the F-35 — a report Chambliss said Donley ignored during last year’s debate over the F-22.

“What do you think the slippage is?” he asked Donley.

“Well, I’ve indicated that it’s going to be very hard to meet 2013,” Donley responded.

“Just answer my question, Mr. Secretary,” Chambliss quickly retorted.

The F-35 platform was favored by Gates and the Obama administration, in part, because of its price tag. The per-unit cost of the program was estimated to be about half of the F-22. The cost overruns could now dramatically affect the price tag of the F-35, according to Chambliss.

“At the end of the day, this airplane could be just as expensive as the F-22,” Chambliss said.

Donley told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he believes the F-35 program will reach a Nunn-McCurdy breach, meaning that the cost overruns of the program will reach above 15 percent of the original price tag.

“Every weapons system we’ve ever produced has been over budget and delayed to some extent, particularly tactical aircraft,” Chambliss said. “They’re just so sophisticated that it’s virtually impossible to keep them on time and on budget.”

The Senate Armed Services Committee will hear today from Deputy Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, the top Pentagon official for acquisitions. Carter is likely to hear a great deal about the F-35 delays.

“We’re going to want to have some answers as to what they knew, and when they knew it, and why they didn’t disclose some information,” Chambliss said.

To contact writer Thomas L. Day, call 744-4489.