Republican renews bid for multiyear F-18 deal
Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri says program's risks are worth cost savings.
A key House Republican plans to press Navy leaders this week on the Pentagon's apparent reluctance to enter into a multiyear deal with Boeing Co. for F/A-18 aircraft, arguing that the costs saved are worth the risks of a long-term financial commitment.
Armed Services Seapower Subcommittee ranking member Todd Akin, R-Mo., whose district is near Boeing's defense headquarters in St. Louis, last year succeeded in attaching language to the defense authorization bill that would allow the Navy to pursue a multiyear deal for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighters and E/A-18G Growlers, electronic attack aircraft built with the same airframe.
But on Feb. 3, Defense Secretary Robert Gates rejected the idea during testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, stating that the multiyear deal would cut only 6.5 percent off the price of each of the Boeing Co. aircraft -- far less than the 10 percent savings threshold that is customary for such long-term commitments.
An Akin spokesman said the lawmaker will question Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and Chief of Naval Operations Gary Roughead about the prospects for a multiyear deal during a subcommittee hearing on the Navy's budget request on Wednesday.
In a follow-up letter to Gates on Feb. 12, Akin argued that the secretary's estimates were based on the 89 aircraft originally planned for fiscal 2010-fiscal 2013. But Congress added nine aircraft to the fiscal 2010 order and the Navy's latest annual budget request revealed plans to buy 26 more planes than planned between fiscal 2011 and fiscal 2013.
"This procurement increase will likely represent an aggregate savings of taxpayer dollars that far exceeds 6.5 percent, if purchased using a multiyear contract," Akin wrote, adding that his authorization language lets the Navy engage in a long-term deal even if savings fall short of 10 percent.
A 6.5 percent savings on 89 aircraft would cut $315 million from the total price of the planes, Akin wrote. But he estimated that the additional aircraft would push the savings close to $500 million.
"While this is a tiny fraction of DoD's overall budget, the fact that you are so willing to forgo this savings is troubling," Akin wrote. "A half a billion dollars here and there quickly adds up to real money."
The Navy has not yet finalized its fiscal 2010 contract with Boeing for the 18 Super Hornets and 22 Growlers, sources said.
Meanwhile, the Navy's fiscal 2011 budget request, sent to Congress Feb. 1, includes $1.9 billion to buy 22 Super Hornets and $1.1 billion for 12 Growlers. In fiscal 2012, the Navy plans to buy 24 more Growlers and one Super Hornet, with 25 more Super Hornets in fiscal 2013.
After that, the Navy will focus its fighter procurement exclusively on F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, which ultimately will replace the service's older F-18s.
Multiyear procurements "don't deliver unless you've got them out over many years. The question obviously, I think, for the F/A-18 is, when is the line going to end?" Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Michael Mullen said Feb. 3. "It's a great airplane. It's been a great airplane; we know that. But the JSF is the right answer for the future from a war-fighting perspective, from my perspective."
A Navy spokesman declined to comment in advance of the hearing.