Tuesday, February 02, 2010

That will leave a mark ...

Not a good sign that all is well in aviation.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, losing patience with the Pentagon's most expensive weapons system, said Monday that he would fire the general in charge of the Joint Strike Fighter program and withhold $614 million from the contractor, Lockheed Martin.

The Joint Strike Fighter, also known as the F-35 Lightning II, is touted as the future centerpiece of the U.S. military's approach to waging war in the skies. But its development has already been plagued by billions of dollars in cost overruns and what Gates called "a troubling performance record."

Gates said he was replacing Marine Maj. Gen. David R. Heinz, the executive officer in charge of the Joint Strike Fighter's development. He declined to identify Heinz's successor but said it would be a person of higher rank -- the equivalent of a three-star general -- to reflect the importance of the program.
Kind of late in the game - but I think the new guy will unquestionably have a mandate.

8 comments:

LT B said...

If only we could get some firings in the LCS program.  Those responsible for reducing NAVSEA inspectors and putting the focus on diversity.  Oh wait, that was DC.

MR T's Haircut said...

umm maybe this is what happens when we expect Military Folks to be Business Men and Engineers.. we should just set the requirement and demand results.. period.. we have muccked it all up.  What would Leslie McNair have done if he was running this program?

It does look good for the continuance of the Hornet and F-22... hmmm wonder if the JSF was a red herring?? 

Marine6 said...

I am reminded of the story that during the Apollo Program, General Sam Phillips (USAF), who was the program manager, would hold mandatory 0600 meetings in his office on Sunday mornings with the CEOs of all the contractors and subcontractors involved whenever the program fell behind schedule or over budget. The meetings not only totally screwed up weekends, but were legendary within NASA for the acrimony and pain involved. CEOs quickly learned that it was wise to do everything possible to keep your portion of the program properly aligned to avoid participation in these sessions.

General Phillips knew that the Army Special Forces had the right idea, Once you get them by the ba!!$, their hearts and minds will follow.

ewok40k said...

Russians meanwhile launched finally T-50 prototype. Still no money for production, but first direct competitor to F-22/F-35 duo.

Anthony Mirvish said...

This is a consequence of a weapons procurement process that has left us with just two major defense contractors (and much relevant military in-house expertise gone).  By insisting on  gold-plated, bleeding edge and "transformational" systems, the cost of development has become so high that the losers couldn't stay in the game (especially when they weren't even given a share of the production run to keep them alive but independent) and had to merge. 

Byron Audler said...

General Phillips sounds like my kind of guy :)

Jack said...

requirements, requirements, requirements...we can't ever get them right. In reality, there's not 1 plane being designed but 3 or 4.This program got big and bloated because of all the changes and service specific demands.

I won't feel too bad for the Marine Maj Gen. He'll get picked up by a contractor and will make much more than he does now simply for his rolodex and access.

Eric Palmer said...

Sad when program managers go-native and cheer for the vendor (no matter how faulty) instead of representing the Department of Defense and giving reports that are unvarnished.