Posted on 05/08/2002 8:33:25 AM PDT by Dallas
WASHINGTON --
Over protests by the Army, the Pentagon planned to formally declare an end to the $11 billion Crusader artillery system Wednesday. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has decided the money for the high-priority Army program should be used to develop other technologies.
Rumsfeld and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz were scheduled to make the announcement at a joint news conference with Army Secretary Thomas White.
White's job appeared in jeopardy earlier this week after Rumsfeld expressed disappointment that someone on the Army headquarters staff had allegedly lobbied Congress to save the Crusader after Rumsfeld had made clear it would be killed.
Rumsfeld is expected to face stiff resistance in Congress to killing the Crusader.
The Army has spent about $2 billion on Crusader. Rumsfeld wants to use the remaining $9 billion in projected spending to pursue other precision weaponry, possibly including a satellite-guided 155mm projectile called the Excalibur, officials said.
On Tuesday the White House and Rumsfeld exonerated White, although an internal Army investigation of the alleged lobbying was continuing. Officials said the inquiry could be wrapped up Wednesday.
Rumsfeld said Tuesday that someone on White's staff was "way in the dickens out of line," and that he would await the investigation's findings before taking action. He appeared to rule out punishing White, the Army's top civilian official.
"I certainly have confidence in Secretary White," Rumsfeld said.
President Bush's spokesman echoed that sentiment.
"The president has confidence in Army Secretary White," Ari Fleischer said at the White House. "He thinks he's doing a good job in his post."
In a private show of support Tuesday morning, Rumsfeld sent White a newspaper that contained a front-page story indicating White was likely to be fired. Rumsfeld attached a stick-on note to White that read, "All baloney," or words to that effect, according to an official who saw it.
Rumsfeld left open the possibility of taking action against someone below White's rank.
"The task is to find out the facts," he said. "And it isn't a matter of ready, shoot, aim. It's ready, aim, fire -- and we're still in the aiming business."
At issue is who in the Army initiated contacts with members of Congress to undermine Rumsfeld's push to cancel the Crusader. The Army appeared to have been enlisting political support to defeat Rumsfeld's objective, which is to take the $9 billion in unspent Crusader money and spend it on other, more advanced technologies.
Bush put $475 million for the Crusader in his proposed 2003 defense budget, and the House Armed Services Committee added language to the budget bill last week that would prevent Rumsfeld from spending it elsewhere. The Senate Armed Services Committee is expected to do the same.
Briefly addressing the matter in testimony Tuesday before the Senate Appropriations Committee, Rumsfeld said he understood that his decision to cancel the Crusader was subject to Congress' review.
"You bet. That's the way it works," he said.
Congress is expected to put up a battle to save the Crusader, whose development is an economic boost for states closely associated with the program, including Oklahoma, where it would be assembled.
The Army documents offering "talking points" for saving Crusader were faxed to members of Congress shortly after White was informed by Wolfowitz that Crusader would be canceled.
The documents reportedly included an assertion that without Crusader or an equivalent artillery system, soldiers in ground combat would be put at undue risk.
"I talked to the secretary, and he had no knowledge or awareness" of the documents, Rumsfeld said.
He dismissed speculation that White was about to be fired.
"There is no question but that the Army -- not the Army, but some individuals in the Army -- were way in the dickens out of line," he said. "It was not Secretary White, and he has advised me to that effect."
For weeks White has been under political pressure as a result of contacts with Enron Corp. officials during the company's collapse last year. White had headed Enron Energy Services, a subsidiary, before he became Army secretary. White is a retired general and a decorated Vietnam veteran.
White also is under investigation by the Defense Department's inspector general for his handling of personal business matters on trips involving Army jets.
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On the Net:
Crusader: http://www.teamcrusader.com/
Copyright © 2002, The Associated Press
Rummy sure has a way with words.
http://www.army-technology.com/projects/crusader/
I am also skeptical of the ability of our towed M198 to do the job as an alternate.
As one who was in the defense business for 35 years, I can say that a company will hire up to the minute a program is cancelled. It helps raise the "cancellation costs". You've heard of them, haven't you?
There aren't any good alternatives to medium artillery like the 155mm. We still use 105mm for airborne formations, but those guns are old, throw little metal and have a short range. You can't even use them as direct fire weapons to stop a tank. The other alternative is the 8" howitzer. this weapon, based on a tube design dating to the 1930's, is the most accurate weapon in the inventory (can you say watch the Artillery School Brigade demonstration batteries put an 8", 200lb, round through a 3' by 4' window in the blockhouse on Signal Mtn.? Sure you can. I've seen it done!) BUT, the 8" has only a 10 mile range (better with RAP, but less accurate), is on a nonarmored track mount and requires a lot more logistics tail than 155mm. That's all there is now. No more 8" guns, no more 155mm guns, no more 175mm guns (30 mile range, but the range probable error was enormous), no more 240mm guns or howitzers, no more 280mm "Atomic Annie". (gotta see that puppy at Ft. Sill!)
The Army, as an institution, is broken.
Seller of technical services beware I guess. Thanks for the info...will be passing on this op unless I hear VERy positive things from congress. Maybe just pass altogether.
Gwjack
On a separate point, I'm not thrilled with all the light thinking that the Army got behind to intervene in places we shouldn't be going anyway. I've got an airborne background (US & Vietnam) so I'm a big fan of light forces but when the Army's committed it means the country's committed. It shouldn't be possible to commit the country instantly and the time it takes to move heavy forces is comforting to non-interventionists like me. The light forces have their place but heavy forces, capable of going toe-to-toe with any mix of forces the enemy can muster are almost always the decisive factor. Heavy forces that are really renamed light forces just aren't the same.
You, as the employee, would get nothing except perhaps some "out-placement counseling" - for which the company would grossly overcharge the government. And the government would pay it, without question.
``After a good deal of consideration, I've decided to terminate the Crusader program,'' Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told a Pentagon news conference.
It marked the first cancellation of a major weapons program by Rumsfeld, although some others, including the Marine Corps' V-22 Osprey hybrid helicopter-airplane, are said to be in jeopardy.
Some in Congress have vowed to fight for Crusader. Lawmakers could block the administration from removing Crusader funds from the defense budget, but it's not clear that will happen.
Rumsfeld had made clear last week that he intended to cancel Crusader and he asked the Army to suggest other ways the project's money could be spent on more advanced weapons technologies.
The Crusader is a 40-ton, self-propelled, rapid-fire cannon that was to have entered service by 2008. The Army argued that it was badly needed to replace the existing Paladin artillery system, which is more than 40 years old and is inferior to heavy artillery used by China, North Korea and others.
The debate over Crusader is emblematic of tensions between the military and their civilian overseers on the difficult question of how, and in what form, the nation's armed forces should adapt to meet post-Cold War challenges. The military is wary of giving up too much in near-term modernization for the sake of investing in technologies that may not become available for a decade or more.
``This is a good choice,'' Rumsfeld said. ``We will see it through to the end.''
Wednesday's announcement brought to a climax an unusually public battle between the Army and Rumsfeld's office, which earlier this week appeared to put Army Secretary Thomas White in jeopardy of being fired.
Some in Congress whose states stand to benefit from Crusader funds have vowed to fight Rumsfeld's decision to cancel, but many private analysts believe Rumsfeld stands a good chance of prevailing.
The Army has spent about $2 billion so far on Crusader; the $9 billion in unspent funds will be used for other weapons projects.
Rumsfeld said he was confident he would prevail on Capitol Hill.
``I've never seen a decision made that receives unanimous approval or unanimous opposition,'' he said. ``In this case I think it's very clear we will be successful with regard to the decision. I can understand the concern.''
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