F136 Phony Competition, LCS Good

DoD Buzz ^ | 11/19/2010 | John Reed

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Pentagon acquisition boss Ashton Carter today once again defended the Defense Department’s choice to forgo competition for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter engine program while delivering a speech on how the Pentagon can buy smart in a time of flat defense budgets.

“We can’t afford to buy two of everything,” said Carter during a speech at the Center for American Progress in Washington today. He added that the push to compete the GE-Rolls Royce F136 alternate JSF engine against Pratt & Whitney’s F135 will not result in “real competition.” Instead, the effort will result in two manufactures receiving “directed buys” to various JSF customers. He also reiterated the Pentagon’s claim that it will take another $2.9 billion to get the F136 ready to compete against the F135.

“You’d have to imagine that you were going to get that $2.9 billion, and savings back, by a competitive procees which as I just explained is doubtful,” said Carter. “For those reasons, {Defense Secretary Rober Gates] concluded that this was not real compitition, this was what he calls ‘Washington competition’.”

[J Edgar]

I disagree - single source ALWAYS means higher cost to the buyer, period, pure, simple!

It’s not the initial buy cost, but the long term logistics and life cycle costs that count. Two source buy is ALWAYS better in the long run.
This guy is corrupt, and I want to see him and all his bribe taking buddies in jail! Why? Because I’m paying for it!

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Ping

[Blogger]

To me, it isn’t just a cost savings. It is a matter of national security. You don’t sole source something that is going to be the mainstay of three branches of the military. That’s lunacy. I wouldn’t want it if either company was the sole source. It is crazy talk to take something of this scope and single source it. Let both companies compete and let the market decide.