Pentagons calls for end to 5 weapons programs

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.