美 국방성, F-35 JSF 포함 6개 무기도입사업 계속 진행...

 

앞서 소개했던 F-35 JSF 개발관련 Bloomberg 통신 기사와 같은날 보도된 역시 F-35 JSF 관련 로이터 통신 기사를 소개합니다.

 

두 기사를 참고하면 이어서 소개할 국방성이 F-35 JSF 개발사업에 대해서 Nunn-McCurdy 법 규정위반에 대한 재인증 서한을

의회에 보낸 내용을 이해하는데 도움이 될 것으로 보입니다.

 

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UPDATE 1-Pentagon to certify 6 arms programs despite cost hikes

Reuters News    06/01/2010

Authors: David Alexander and Andrea Shalal-Esa

© Reuters Limited 2010.

 

WASHINGTON, June 1 (Reuters) - The Pentagon plans to tell Congress on Tuesday that it will continue work on the Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter program and five other big weapons programs, despite cost overruns that triggered live-or-die reviews.

 

U.S. Defense Department plans to certify to lawmakers that all six programs are vital to national security, allowing continue funding for the programs, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters on Tuesday.

 

The Pentagon told lawmakers in April that the six programs had breached cost thresholds in the Nunn-McCurdy law, triggering reviews that could lead to their cancellation, but defense officials had expected all would be certified.

 

"We are certifying these six programs," Whitman told reporters. "The department is required after 90 days of a Nunn-McCurdy breach to come back and tell, certify to the Congress, that this program is vital to national (security)."

 

Whitman said each program had to meet certain requirements to be certified, noting that defense officials would brief reporters on the process later on Tuesday.

 

"If we certify them, then they will continue. If we don't certify, then they are defunded," he said.

 

Defense officials told lawmakers in April that a restructuring of the F-35, or Joint Strike Fighter, would result in a sharp increase in unit costs, driving the overall program of the program to $328 billion.

 

The Pentagon's official report said each airplane was expected to cost $93 million to $112 million in fiscal year 2010 dollars, up from the $59 million per plane that was initially expected.

 

The other programs that saw increases of 25 percent or more in their unit costs were:

 

一 the DDG-1000 destroyer built by General Dynamics Corp, whose unit cost jumped by 86.5 percent due to the Pentagon's decision to buy just three ships, instead of the 10 originally planned.

 

一 Boeing Co's Apache Block III program to upgrade the AH-64 helicopter, which saw its unit costs increase by 25.5 percent due to the addition of 56 new aircraft on top of the 634 upgrades already planned.

 

一 a remote mine-hunting system designed for use on a new class of coastal warships, which saw its unit cost increase by 79.5 percent after 54 systems were cut from the planned purchase.

 

一 Boeing's Wideband Global Satellite (WGS) program, which saw its unit costs soar by 27.2 percent, reflecting a downturn in the commercial satellite market and a production break of about three years, and the Pentagon's decision to buy two extra satellites after a further two-year break in production.

 

一 a U.S. Army common missile warning program run by BAE Systems Plc, where unit costs nearly tripled after the Pentagon decided to split it into subprograms and cut the quantity from 2,618 missiles to 208.

 

 

  ⓒ Lockheed Martin

 

  ⓒ Lockheed Martin