Posted on 03/16/2006 8:21:12 PM PST by LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget
WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The Defense Department's chief weapons buyer said Thursday that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program could continue without its international partners, if current disputes over export controls and engine makers escalated to a point of no return.
Ken Krieg, the Pentagon's undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, said such a showdown was hardly imminent. "I don't think we're at that stage," Krieg said at a House Armed Services Committee panel hearing.
But when pressed, Krieg acknowledged that continuing the program without the U.K. was possible. Britain is the lead partner on the $256 billion program headed by Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT).
"Yes, we can build a joint strike fighter," Krieg said, responding to a barrage of questions from U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., and chairman of the subcommittee holding the hearing.
Krieg protested questions that would "speculate" about a negative outcome to current negotiations. The U.S. wants to work with allied nations to share development costs, deepen military ties and take advantage of a global supply chain, he said.
But Weldon pushed for a more definite answer.
"Could you build the program without the Brits? We have to speculate because we have to make a decision," Weldon said.
The Joint Strike Fighter has come under heavy scrutiny on Capitol Hill this week because of a new Pentagon plan to cancel the fighter's alternate engine program, which is led by General Electric Co. (GE) and U.K.-based Rolls-Royce PLC (RR.LN). The Senate held two hearings dedicated to the program, followed by Thursday's House panel hearing.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, R-Va., has been an outspoken proponent of the two-engine strategy. Few other lawmakers have taken up the issue as strongly, however, although they have quizzed Pentagon planners heavily about the rationale for the move.
U.K. officials oppose cutting the alternate engine, which would give a monopoly to U.S.-based United Technologies Corp.'s (UTX) Pratt & Whitney unit for the thousands of F-35 planes expected to be sold around the world.
The U.K. also is concerned about export controls that have so far limited the transfer of key technology. At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing this week, U.K. defense procurement minister Peter Drayson said the U.K. would drop out of the program if its concerns were not allayed.
The U.K. and other partner nations are working with the Pentagon this year on a memorandum of understanding for long-term participation in the program.
LOL nice to see that Great Britain could be foreseen as a possible future threat to America within the lifetime of this Aircraft.
I think Eurabia is more of a concern. Hard to argue with the demographic trends.
We can attribute this mainly to greedy and/or frightened CEO's whose dedication to profit at all costs to preserve their well-paid positions is stronger than their American Patriotic impulse, and self-preservation instinct.
"Who moved my cheese?", they ask. "Why, it's right over in yonder mousetrap.", say our enemies. "By-all-means, help yourselves!"
This country needs to 'wise-up' in a hurry.
LOL they are going to outbreed us argument.
When the Blacks from the West Indies first came to this country, Britain, we were told we would be swamped as they were all young and had big families while we have small families.
The fact was we were not as they got older they wanted what white children wanted and it wasn't a big family.
Now forgetting for a minute that the total Muslim population of Britain is 1.6 million while the total population is: 58.8 million meaning in percentage terms of (2.8%) .
Lets have a look at these breeding foot soldiers of Allah.
All the Muslims I have met in there teens and 20s are more interested in XBoxes ( I think its a computer game), Fast cars and all the other materialistic trappings of the West.
Rather than lie down and be good little Muslims and out breed the Christians.
Breeding lots of children to work on your farms works in North Africa, the Middle East and Pakistan/India and South East Asia where the family unit is strong and you have the extended family to help with raising the children and to make sure you do your duty and become a baby producing factory.
But in the West as I said apart from claiming to be Islamic because it means they can sulk go on TV and riot and cry crocodile tears over there brothers in other countries who are persecuted.
But the other things like giving up the bling(heavy Gold Chains) and settling down they are not interested in. They would rather commit crime sell drugs and end up in jail.
Not all of them but a good percentage do.
In France they have a tendency to jail Muslims and for longer than there white counterparts.
LOL While they may be getting some horizontal action, I doubt they will breed any children from it, unless a miracle happens.
Also you need Muslim women to breed with to produce all these little blessed foot soldiers of Allah, and while we have let rather a lot of Muslim men in, something we are now halting we are not letting there women in.
As an aside the West has new large scale immigration from Central and Eastern Europe who are also young and predominately male, mainly Slavic.
While I am married I am looking forward to seeing the Slavic women come over to join there male counterparts, always liked looking at pretty women.
Let complaining Norway and Islamofascist Turkey out of the F-35 project too. We don't need them, not at all. Let Poland and Japan in instead.
No doubt. Don't sell any to Israel.
if it can be remotely switched off would you want the source code freely floating around cyberspace? I wouldn't, maybe you would since you have only invested a couple billion, but we have spend far more and have a lot more to lose.
I'm not so sure, one of the 3 new CV's will be operating the Rafale anyway, and it is a twin engine aircraft. Thats been quite important in naval aviation for some time.
As for the mission requirements, i've not seen them publically quoted, if you have, perhaps you have a link.
My source for the Royal Navy mission requirements comes from an MOD official who is intimately involved with the RN aircraft carrier program. He's not happy about the source code issue, but he told me the UK simply doesn't have any leverage -- the RN must have the F-35 because the Rafale can't fulwill several important mission requirements: high-tech stealth, range, and weapons load.
That being said, ministers and politicians in the UK are making a big to-do about the Rafale out of a desire to creat some leverage. But as my source indicates, there simply is no leverage -- and the US understands that.
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