Murtha Needs to be Slapped

There's nothing like watching the Democratic Party destroy its own credibility like when their politicians go to the defense trough right along with the Repubs. It's as if they can't be happy doing the right thing - they still feel compelled to bring home millions more to their state. It's as if they think their seniority obligates them to take advantage of the system.

Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) has got to be one of the worse politicians. Not only does he want to fund 12 F22 planes that the Air Force leadership didn't ask for - that we know are too expensive and unaffordable to operate and maintain - he wants to continue the VH-71 helicopters that cost a half billion each.

"It won't come to that (a veto). We will work it out," U.S. Representative John Murtha, the chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, said at a briefing on the $636 billion blueprint for military priorities in 2010.

Murtha said he would reach out to the White House on the F-22, the premier U.S. fighter aircraft, and funding for other big-ticket programs supported by members of his committee that the administration would like to scale back or eliminate.

This includes money for a new VH-71 presidential helicopter led by Lockheed that the administration opposes. The subcommittee earlier in the day set aside $485 million for five aircraft.

"They know they need a new helicopter," Murtha said of the administration.

The president may need a new helicopter, but he doesn't need this helicopter. SecDef Gates has it right:

Gates in his speech said that the helicopter was an example of how mounting requirements can drive up costs.

"We ended up with helicopters that cost nearly half a billion dollars each and enabled the president to, among other things, cook dinner while in flight under nuclear attack," Gates said to laughter from the Chicago crowd.

It's not a hard thing to figure out. Even former SecNav John Lehman will tell you that this is the wrong plane for the future military mission.

In 1983, I was in the Pentagon meeting that launched the F-22 Raptor. The plan was to buy 648 jets beginning in 1996 for $60 million each (in 1983 dollars). Now they cost $350 million apiece and the Obama budget caps the program at 187 jets. At least they are safe from cyberattack since no one in China knows how to program the '83 vintage IBM software that runs them.

It's not just a question of quality - if we can't replace all the F15s with the F22, we'll lose the future fight by lack of numbers. As SecDef Gates noted, every defense dollar that is diverted to fund unnecessary capacity is a dollar less to support the troops. Time to move this issue on. 

 

UPDATE: DefenseNews is reporting that Congress wants to use money that would go to purchasing Hueys and Cobras for the Marine Corps for the alternative JSF engine that DoD has already stated it doesn't want and doesn't need. It makes you wonder if the DoD shouldn't be examining the threat that Congress poses to its abilities to fight on the battlefield in this QDR.

Comments

[Humza Kazmi]

Loathe as I am to claim him as a Democrat, that should be "D-PA" re: Rep. Murtha's affiliation.

[J.]

Thanks Huzma - I should have known that. Some kind of psychic block on me I guess.