Pentagons calls for end to 5 weapons programs
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Wednesday, April 25, 2001
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration has been urged to cancel at
least five U.S. weapons programs in a strategy to maintain a new combat
doctrine for the military.
A Pentagon advisory committee recommended that the administration
eliminate the U.S. Army's Crusader artillery system, the navy's DD-21
destroyer as well as the upgrades of the army's M1A1 tanks, Bradley armored
fighting vehicle and the air force's B-1 bomber.
No decisions have yet been taken. But offficials said the Pentagon
recommendations are meant to phase out aging technology and invest in
advanced weapons that will confront new threats faced by the United States.
Both the Crusader and the DD-21 were deemed as insufficent weapons.
The 155 mm Crusader, developed by United Defense, was regarded as too
heavy and insufficiently mobile for the army. The DD-21 was seen as not
representing the cutting edge of military technology amid a Pentagon review
of the navy's fleet of 12 aircraft carriers.
Officials said the Pentagon is also examining whether to proceed with
the air forces's F-22 fighter-jet and the Joint Strike Fighter programs.
They said the administration has been disappointed with many big-ticket
weapons projects.
"In some recent years, 80 percent of army systems did not achieve 50
percent of their required reliability in operational testing," Danielle
Brian, the Pentagon's former head of weapons testing, said in a Washington
forum earlier this month. "In recent years, two-thirds of air force systems
had to halt operational testing because they weren't ready."
Ms. Brian cited the B-1 bomber, the V-22 Osprey and the Crusader. She
said the Pentagon did not allow for proper testing of these systems.
Wednesday, April 25, 2001
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