TCS Statement on the Elimination of the Comanche Program
Washington,
D.C. - The following is a written statement by Keith Ashdown,
Vice-President of Policy at Taxpayers for Common Sense on
the elimination of the Comanche helicopter program as announced
by the Pentagon:
After
two decades, billions of dollars, and not one helicopter built,
the final curtain has fallen on one of the most wasteful military
money pits in United States history.
Taxpayers
for Common Sense supports the Army's proposed options of applying
the savings realized from the cancellation of the Comanche
Program to the purchase of updated Black Hawk, Apache and
Chinook helicopters; upgrading 1,400 other helicopters; and
increasing investment in UAV's. The development of the Comanche
helicopter program is a case study on what not to do when
trying to develop a new weapons program, and we should carefully
apply the lessons learned, when evaluating current and future
military projects.
The Comanche
has cost taxpayers about $8 billion to date. The program has
been plagued with cost overruns, time delays and overzealous
desire of Pentagon planners to move forward with parts of
the program before they are technologically proven to work.
In our opinion, the elimination of this program is far overdue.
So much criticism has been leveled at this program and so
many reams of paper have been used to enumerate its drawbacks,
it's unbelievable the Comanche has survived this long. For
too many years, taxpayer money has been chopped to ribbons
by the gold-plated rotors of this over priced boondoggle.
The Comanche
is just the latest in a disturbing line of failures in U.S.
weapon acquisition programs. As Pentagon officials get caught
up in utilizing untested technologies and building flashier
weapons of war, they are failing to identify and meet the
basic needs of our soldiers. In other words, the Pentagon
could make do with some quality sedans, but they insist on
expensive Rolls Royce models that often turn out to be lemons.
The debate on eliminating the Comanche now moves to Congress
and is likely to be as popular as a pair of lead gym shoes.
Despite record deficits, and given Congress reluctance to
make tough budget cuts, especially for defense, they will
likely restore funding to this overpriced, obsolete and irrelevant
program.
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