Arizona Daily Star (Tucson)

June 12, 2007

 

Raytheon Tomahawk Might Replace Errant Lockheed Missile

 

By Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg News

 

Raytheon Co.'s Tomahawk cruise missile is being eyed as a possible replacement for a Lockheed Martin Corp. missile program that was given 30 days to demonstrate it has a plan to improve reliability, said Diane Wright, the Pentagon's deputy director for air warfare.

 

The Lockheed missile costs about $649,000 and is launched from planes. The latest Tomahawk, made at Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems, costs $972,000 on average and can be launched only from ships and submarines.

 

Wright said the Pentagon might explore whether the Tomahawk could be adapted for launch from airplanes.

 

The Lockheed Joint Air-To-Surface Standoff Missile is one of five programs that recently exceeded their original per-unit cost by more than 50 percent. The overruns triggered a law requiring the U.S. military to review the program and certify to Congress that it remains vital to national security. The Air Force estimates the per-missile cost has grown at least 62 percent.

 

Pentagon undersecretary for acquisition Ken Krieg was to inform congressional defense committees today that he is deferring certification for 30 days. He intends to allow the Air Force and Lockheed, the world's largest defense company, time to develop a plan to correct a missile that has demonstrated only 60 percent reliability in testing — in spite of being declared combat-ready.

 

"All options are on the table," Wright told reporters at the Pentagon on Monday. "It's serious. We don't have an air-launched Tomahawk, though."

 

If the Lockheed program doesn't improve and the Tomahawk can't be adapted for air launch, "we'll have to go back to square one and talk about whether it requires a whole new program," she said.

 

Improving the reliability of the Lockheed program "is the least expensive way to move forward," Wright said.

 

Raytheon Missile Systems spokesman Everett Tackett said the company in the 1970s and 1980s investigated launching the Tomahawk off aircraft, including B-1 and B-2 bombers. Determining whether the latest model Tomahawk could be launched from aircraft would require additional studies, he said.

 

Four Lockheed missiles designed for pinpoint accuracy and deemed combat-ready missed by up to 200 feet or failed to detonate on impact during tests on April 30 and May 1.

 

Krieg ordered the Air Force to "implement management controls and develop a reliability plan" for presentation June 27 to the Pentagon's top weapons panel, the Defense Acquisition Board.

 

Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed's missile program, started in 1995, has a history of test failures. The Air Force to date has spent over $2 billion and contracted for 942 of more than 5,000 missiles it plans to buy. It has taken delivery of 611.

 

The missile's 60 percent reliability rate "is not acceptable," Air Force assistant for acquisition Sue Payton told reporters. The minimum rate is 75 percent, she said.

 

Lockheed Martin spokeswoman Joy Sabol said the company will fix the missile program "at no cost to the government."

 

"Lockheed Martin stands behind its product and looks forward to working with the U.S. Air Force and Office of the Secretary of Defense team to validate the capabilities and reliability of the JASSM weapon system," she said in an e-mail.

 

"Lockheed Martin will complete an engineering analysis by mid-June, which will confirm the root cause of the problem and propose the fix necessary," she wrote.

 

The missiles are assembled at Lockheed's Troy, Ala., plant by the company's Orlando, Fla.-based Missiles and Fire Control unit.

Hmm, back to the 1980s era AGM-109 MRASM, huh ? I don't know if adapting Tomahawk for air launch use would be viable, given for example that Tomahawk (even without the booster) is considerably heavier and longer than the JASSM. It might eliminate potential employment by aircraft like the F-16, which JASSM was aiming at. The Navy's AGM-109L MRASM concept was much closer in dimensions, but that's distant history and would require a significant change to the current Tomahawk airframe, I would think. And what about the SLAM-ER possibility ?