The Pentagon plans to spend $62 billion on 339 F-22 fighters that may not serve their intended purpose.

As of June 16, the F-22 test aircraft had flown no more than six hours. In December 1998, after a planned 183 hours of test flights, the Air Force is expected to buy the first two F-22 aircraft for $595 million. At the same time the Air Force will likely spend $190 million in advance procurement funds as a down payment on the $1.7 billion cost for the next six planes.

When the Senate considered the FY99 Defense Authorization Bill earlier this month, Senator Bumpers (D-AR) offered a “fly before you buy” amendment to ensure the Pentagon adequately tests the F-22 fighter before beginning low rate initial production of the aircraft. The amendment was defeated 73 to 19 – a resounding blow to taxpayers.

The error of buying before you fly is called “concurrency.” It was the fatal flaw of the B-1 Bomber program, according to a special investigation by the House Armed Services Committee. The highly concurrent B-1 program produced a plane that was an embarrassing and costly turkey.

The Bumpers amendment would have allowed the first two aircraft to be purchased with no strings attached, but would prevent the disbursement of the $190 million in advance procurement until 601 hours of flight tests have been completed. The Air Force had originally intended 1,400 hours of test flights before approving low rate initial production. But delays in delivery have led the Air Force to agree to begin low rate initial production after only a planned 183 hours of test flights.

The U.S. General Accounting Office has sharply criticized the Air Force's decision to reduce testing time, noting that the 183 hours planned for pre-production flight tests is far fewer than for any modern American fighter. The 183 hours is also well short of the amount the Defense Science Board suggested would be sufficient to uncover any design problems with the aircraft. The Board recommended between 443 and 867 hours — still only 10-20 percent of the entire flight-test program.

The Air Force should not be allowed to purchase equipment before being certain it works. Taxpayers can not afford to throw tax dollars into a weapons system that may be flawed. The Bumpers' amendment only required the Air Force to use common sense before spending billions of dollars. Obviously 73 Senators failed to see the logic of this idea.

Dropping the Bomb

On Tuesday June 30, the Brookings Institution released a book-length report called “Atomic Audit.” The book provides insight into the historical and current cost of the United States nuclear weapons program since World War II, and discovers, among other things, that the military can not determine how much money it has spent on its nuclear weapons program. The book is available through the Brookings Institution.