Competitive Momentum

Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today is touting a new GAO assessment that could complicate Defense Secretary Robert Gates' bid to halt funding for the Joint Strike Fighter alternate engine, a program Gates believes is an example of wasteful DOD spending but one that many supporters in Congress argue is pivotal to sound acquisition policy.

The Michigan lawmaker today issued a statement reacting to the GAO finding, made public yesterday, stating that DOD's estimate of an additional $2.9 billion and six years needed to complete development of the F136 engine “could be lower.” Our coverage of that assessment is here.

Specifically, Levin said, the findings in the report “add to economic arguments in favor of competition.”

But economic benefits “are not the only argument in favor of competition,” he added:

That is why I strongly supported enactment of the Weapons System Acquisition Reform Act of 2009 (WSARA), which, among its main directions to the Defense Department, calls for competition throughout the life cycle of major acquisition programs.  Since the JSF program is the single largest DOD acquisition program, the JSF engine is a great place to begin implementing WSARA.