On Sat, 27 Mar 2004 09:47:39 -0800, Henry J Cobb wrote:

Scott Ferrin wrote:
So far from what I've read it's becoming a PR disaster. The USAF
needs to be crystal clear what they are talking about as the clueless
politicians are already getting the whole mess confused and whining
that in order to put the "A" in "F/A-22" it's going to cost $11
billion additional dollars.

The Air Force needs to sell the $11 billion investment as a "Super
Weasel" that will be needed in the future and not part of the current
development project to deliver the Air-to-Air abilities.

-HJC


What $11 billion investment?

"As a contributing factor, the GAO report contends that adding an
air-to-ground attack capability to the F/A-22 will cost $11.7 billion.
(The GAO serves as Congress' investigative arm.)

"I would like to know what they're adding to the account that suggests
that [additional cost]," Roche said. "The biggest thing we are doing
is changing the radar. In changing the radar, the price falls 40%. We
have some technology we're trying to integrate for catching moving
targets that we're pressing. That may require more computing power . .
.. at some point in the growth of the airplane. That's all within the
budget."

The huge F/A-22 cost increase suggested by the GAO has many in the
Pentagon searching for its origins. "