UDLP, the manufacturer, has mismanaged it and only a prototype exists after 18 billion $ and another 16 b$ to put it into production.
Rummy is going to kill it in the next defense bill.
WASHINGTON -- A high-level Pentagon spat between Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Army Secretary Thomas White has emerged over the future of an expensive new artillery system the Army covets.
In a Pentagon briefing Thursday, Rumsfeld was visually peeved at reports that White, a former Enron executive under scrutiny for his sale of company stock, had sought to lobby Congress for the Crusader artillery system after learning Rumsfeld wanted the $11 billion program canceled. "I have a minimum of high regard for that kind of behavior," Rumsfeld said.
The dispute became public at a time White is already under the pressure of two separate investigations. The FBI is probing whether White improperly sought information from Enron officials between June and October as he was selling $12.1 million in company stock -- and Enron's stock value was tumbling.
And the Pentagon's inspector general is reviewing White's use of a military jet after reports surfaced that he stopped at a location where he was selling a house to close on that deal during a business trip without reimbursing the Army.
White has denied any wrongdoing in either matter.
The former vice chairman of Enron's energy services left a $55 million-a-year job with the company in early 2001 to take the post as Army secretary.
On Wednesday, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz met with White and told him to cancel the Crusader program within 30 days and come up with an alternative way to replace it, sources said.
Shortly after that, the Army's legislative affairs office faxed important members of Congress talking points describing why the system needed to be saved.
Rumsfeld said Thursday that even though the Army was asked to prepare alternatives, it did not mean a decision to cancel Crusader was irrevocable.
But he acknowledged such a step "clearly suggests that that's the intention -- to cancel it."
Rumsfeld was not happy that his authority to order service branches to cut weapons programs was being challenged.
"Ought a president and a secretary of defense and a deputy secretary of defense be able to expect that the leadership (of the military) and the overwhelming majority will in fact be supportive once a decision is made? Of course," he said.
Asked if he was concerned White might be fighting a "rear-guard action" to save the Crusader system, he said, "We are looking into that right now."
An Army spokesman said White had no comment on the Crusader issue Thursday.
One military official who spoke on background said the matter could become the decisive issue that leads to White's resignation from the Army.
"It may be that this becomes a matter of principle he can leave on with a certain amount of grace," the official said.
But William Taylor, a military expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies said, "What we've got going on is bureaucratic politics. It is nothing new. White isn't going behind Rumsfeld's back -- both of them know the other's position on this."
White said, "This is just a typical high-level debate over a weapon system that is in danger. This one is just out in the open."
The Crusader is a high-tech, mobile 155 mm self-propelled howitzer. It is lighter and more mobile than existing self-propelled artillery pieces, and the Army has told Congress it is crucial to plans for a more rapid deployment ability.
About $2 billion of a projected $11 billion cost for the program has already been spent. It was supposed to enter the service in 2008.