Tomahawk (29 page)

MR. MULHOLLAND. And you are going to make the schedule on these ships?

ADMIRAL WILLIS. I can't speak for submarines. But in the surface ships, I have looked at the risks in terms of vertical launch systems, which we are developing for the out years, and backfit of armored-box launchers, which will give us the most immediate capability. The first battleship will be ready this coming summer.

MR. OSBORN. Mr. Harrow? I understand you had some questions you wanted to ask.

MR. HARROW. I do.

First, I have a financial question. As our senior staffer has pointed out, we are faced with rapidly escalating costs on this program, unbudgeted costs, and this is a prime reason we are conducting this hearing. These overruns are worrisome to all of us up here. We must live within our budget. Now, I understand that—this didn't happen on your watch, Admiral—but I understand that it was known that money for production had run out year before last, and that rather than stop production and come back and ask us for more money, new contracts were let. The end result being that we will pay a charge of roughly fifteen million for scrapping the old contracts, and that we will end up with fewer missiles than authorized. I understand that we are also being asked to consider an additional Tomahawk support-equipment request for $176 million. This provides 9 surface weapon-control systems and 18 submarine system modifications. In addition, it provides for the backfit of one vertical-launch system in the DD-963-class ship and for two in the SSN-688-class submarine. My question is, is it your intention to actually produce these specified weapons and systems, or are we going to see a repeat of our previous overruns?

ADMIRAL WILLIS. I will take that, if you don't mind. But first, let me deny the implication, if that
is what I heard, that there has been any wrongdoing or concealment governing the use of appropriations.

Willis went through a mind-numbing exegesis of developmental funding and from which pots of money it had come. Dan quickly lost track. From the glazed eyes, none of the congressmen were following, either. But Harrow just made a note, face impassive.

MR. HARROW. My next question is more, you might call it a philosophical question.

This program seems to me, and to many informed defense experts, to be a duplication of two ongoing defense programs. On the strategic side, it duplicates the Boeing AGM-86B, developed for launch from B-52s and B-ls, which have recently deployed out of Griffiss and other Air Force bases. Deep strike is and always has been primarily an Air Force mission. Second, as I understand Mr. Koelpels pointed out this morning, it duplicates our very robust and successful Navy air attack arm, a flexible and responsive medium-range strike force that I have been privileged to support over the years. Now, let us leave aside the question, on which I have personal feelings, of whether an unmanned aircraft is going to display the same resourcefulness and skill in carrying out its mission as our Navy and Air Force and, I might add, our Marine Corps aviators have demonstrated over the years. Leaving that aside, I still have to say that Tomahawk seems to me to straddle the two missions and, I have to say, doesn't give very much promise of doing either any better than what we have on the shelf right now.

Given the redundancy of this program, it seems to me that we have areas of the defense posture that demand more of our immediate attention. The Army attack helicopter program, for example, which could well do with additional funding.

ADMIRAL NILES. We stated the rationale for this system in this subcommittee earlier today. It provides
for a distributed offensive, which allows us to carry the battle to the enemy—

MR. HARROW. Yes, I know what you said this morning, Admiral. I have your statement here in front of me. And what you describe is a system in technical trouble. You said—let's see—you called them “anomalies we need to resolve … in the software for the weapons control system and the transition-to-flight regime.”

Let us be more specific. Your software for the weapons control system for the surface ship installation is written in assembly language, and each change has à ripple effect, and now it's a year behind schedule. You had twenty-nine sets of the thrust-vector-tab control systems delivered wired backward, due to the quality-control inspector being dyslexic. And this little difficulty in the “transition-to-flight regime” can be better described as a consistent and inexplicable tendency for the missile to crash without warning.

Dan couldn't believe what he was hearing. It was as if the congressman had been reading the minutes of the progress conferences. Then he saw Niles looking back toward him, and he re-collected himself. He pulled the tabbed rebuttals and passed them forward.

Niles studied them for a second after Harrow was done speaking, then responded to each point the congressman had raised. He pointed out that the thrust-tab problem had been detected and corrected, that the other problems were being worked on.

ADMIRAL NILES. In fact, this is the main purpose of a developmental program: to stress a new system, expose glitches, and fix them. To be frank, if we did not see any problems in the development phase, I would question whether we were testing a system to the limits of its capability.

MR. HARROW. I see. Well, now, looking back over the line of reasoning we have developed here, it seems that we have established three points. First, that this program duplicates not one but two ongoing and very successful programs, one Navy and one Air Force. Second, that it is over budget and behind schedule, and that we are being asked to bail it out without any very clear idea when it will come on-line. And three, that the program is by all accounts, including that of some very astute analysts in the aerospace field, in very deep trouble indeed, technically.

Now, given all that, I have to wonder whether we should be wise and parsimonious public servants and avoid making major investments for the time being. In other words, extend this program's developmental time frame in order to make absolutely sure we indeed have a dependable weapon that fulfills an actual need. I don't want to be a stumbling block, but after due consideration, I do not believe we should commit ourselves to advance procurement funding at this time.

MR. MULHOLLAND. I would take issue with that. My point being that we tend to do this sort of thing too often, allocate just enough to keep new programs alive, but not enough to actually increase the fighting ability of our boys at the front lines. I've read somewhere it takes twelve to fourteen years to get a new weapon from the initial idea to something you can use in the field. We need to short-circuit this development folderol and get the pipeline going. None of the anomalies the admiral mentioned has anything to do with the actual missile. It flies. The engine runs. It hits things. I think those other are minor problems that are within the area of post-delivery tweaking. What we need to do now is to get off the couch and start buying these things and get the cost down. Admiral, what are our cost figures?

ADMIRAL NILES. AS you pointed out, the per-unit cost drops as the buy increases. For example, this year we are talking about a $2.7 million per-unit buy. As we increase the total buy, the average cost of the missile declines to around $2 million.

MRS. ROMANICK. IS there a potential for a multiyear buy?

ADMIRAL NILES. Possibly. Let me make a statement here about the buy-size issue. The members' questions are on target, but they are matters we have excogitated on, as well. We have tried to strike a balance between early procurement and completed testing. There is also a relationship between extending our developmental time frame and increasing our unit costs. My personal opinion, as someone who lives with this, is that the buy Admiral Willis has outlined is the balanced figure and that we can't go too far wrong with it.

MR. HARROW. And the point that we are raising is that it may be wiser to slip our schedule for one or two years, since we have the mission covered by other elements of our defense establishment.

Dan sat with his fingers tented, following the duel. It didn't sound like an acrimonious debate. There weren't any raised voices. But Harrow was carrying out a savage and deeply informed attack. Mulholland was defending, but, on the other hand, he wanted to increase procurement funding, boosting the buy before they had a reliable missile. While Niles was trying to fend off from both sides of an increasingly narrow channel.

He was pondering this when he saw Harrow lean over toward where Mulholland sat. The Pennsylvanian glanced up. Harrow dropped a piece of paper in front of him. Mulholland frowned over it for a moment. Then he sat back and nodded, poker-faced, and Harrow returned his attention to the floor.

MR. OSBORN. I don't like to cut off what seems like fruitful debate, but as chairman, I have to point out that we must move on very soon. Mr. Mulholland, did you have a rejoinder?

MR. MULHOLLAND. I believe we have all stated our positions on this matter.

Neither Koelpels nor Woodruff seemed to have any more remarks, and the senior staffer turned the discussion to Nunn Amendment reports and DSARC milestones. Meanwhile, two more representatives had come in. One was seated on the dais, scribbling on one piece of paper after another. The other was talking to a chubby young man in glasses. After a moment, Dan recognized Andy DeSilva.

Evans passed him a note for Niles. Dan hesitated, then got up and went forward. Admiral Willis was explaining how under certain circumstances Nunn Amendment calculations would show a cost increase even though the cost per missile was decreasing. He placed the note in front of the admiral, then retreated to his seat, feeling again, as he had every day since he had come on shore duty, how junior a lieutenant commander was in the scheme of things here. The revelation-slash-ass-chewing by Wester-house had been disturbing, too. He hadn't had any idea his boss was … terminal.

He sat with his chin in his hand, staring at the fungoid faces that parroted questions passed by their staffers. He'd thought admirals were God made visible, yet here they were being harassed like schoolboys summoned to account for a prank. Subjected to stupid questions by politicians who knew nothing and cared less, dependent on the machinations of sleazoids and contributors. Wester-house thought this was important. So important, he was literally dying to put Tomahawk in the fleet. He had to admire that kind of dedication. But was it true for Dan Lenson? Was there nothing better he had to do with his one unique and precious stay on earth?

MR. OSBORN. Thank you, Admiral. If there are no other questions, I believe we can now move on. You will be back later, will you not?

ADMIRAL WILLIS. Yes, sir, we will be back tomorrow afternoon to revisit the Poseidon and Trident strategic systems.

MR. OSBORN. Thank you very much.

Dan and the sergeants crimped themselves into the back of the sedan. Evans and Westerhouse rode up front. Nobody said much. Until Westerhouse asked Evans, “So how do you think we did?”

The deputy just shrugged. “We'll find out when they vote.”

“That Harrow's sure got a hard-on for us. He made some yardage, too.”

“That's why they call him ‘the congressman from Boeing.' “

Evans shrugged again. They rode the rest of the way back to Crystal City in silence.

18

 

 

 

The next day he came in early, to find three message slips already on his desk. Number one was from the site manager at Kearney Mesa. Number two was from Long Beach, about
New Jersey,
no doubt. And number three was from Carol, asking him to come up to the admiral's office at his earliest convenience. Instead of going right up, he looked through his desk and found Sandy Cottrell's new card. A colorful logo, an address in Falls Church, out near the Beltway. She answered on the first ring. “Kinetic Solutions, Legislative Affairs, Ms. Cottrell.”

“Hi. Sandy? This is Dan.”

“Who's this?'

“Dan Lenson, from Eddie's class.”

“Oh., .. How
are
you, Dan? Still standing firm?” She sounded spacey, slurred, even though it was only—he glanced at the wall clock—0710.

“Uh, okay. How's the new job? You're out at that new start-up Dr. Szerenci was talking about, right?”

“Right. Here in my nice new pussy-pink office, and already I have second thoughts.”

“What is it, think tank? Policy?”

“Oh, the usual shit. But this is even sleazier than I expected.”

“Uh-huh. Well, look, you still got your Rolodex from the Hill, right? I called to see if you could find something out for me.”

She asked him what. He said, “I told you about the hearing? Armed Services, subcommittee on military nuclear
systems. I wondered … you know the staffers … maybe DeSilva—do you think you could get me, uh, some kind of readout on how they think it went? I mean, whether we're going to get our funding?”

“Well, listen to this. You're learning.”

“Learning?”

‘To play the game. Isn't this what we're all playing? A game? This can't be for real.” She laughed, kind of nuttily, like Goldie Hawn.