thedrifter
01-28-08, 08:31 AM
ditorial:
Published: Jan 28, 2008 12:30 AM
Modified: Jan 28, 2008 01:43 AM
It's a dud
The Marine Corps pushed ahead with an assault vehicle for its Osprey aircraft despite clear signs that it had serious flaws
Maybe no one should be surprised. This "Growler" vehicle, after all, is part of the larger V-22 Osprey aircraft project, the Marine rotorcraft that takes off and lands like a helicopter but moves forward like an airplane. Ospreys are $119 million apiece, and that's after a bunch of cost overruns and safety problems that left 30 people dead. The original specifications for the craft were watered down along the way, and that was only part of a story that The News & Observer's Joseph Neff reported over several years. The Pentagon says all's well with the Osprey now, and 12 of them have been shipped to Iraq.
But they won't be carrying the assault vehicles and mortar-hauling systems that were developed to fit inside. The vehicle, called the Growler, can't transport ammunition safely, it turns out, even though it costs $127,000. To fit inside the Osprey, the Growler had to be narrow. And thus it seems to have a tendency to tip over. A Government Accountability Office investigator said that during testing of the trailer, it ran up on the vehicle three times, and that if anyone had been in the back of the Growler, there could have been serious injuries.
Neff reported Thursday that the Defense Department is investigating. The GAO has investigated. But the Marines apparently were prepared to move ahead with 66 mortar systems and 600 Growler assault vehicles until September. That's when Michigan Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, suggested pulling the reins on the project pending that GAO probe.
Friends and failures
Signs of trouble with the vehicle's stability, complicated by the mortar trailer, were there early on. But the push to develop the project continued. And curiously, the Marines seemed determined to award the contract for the project to General Dynamics and to Carolina Growler, a company in Robbins founded by a retired Marine colonel, Terry Crews, that was going to build the vehicle. Was there a little too much determination there?
Well, an anonymous complaint was filed with the Department of Defense that said a brigadier general who headed the Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Va., steered the contract to Carolina Growler and General Dynamics. Crews, the complaint said, was a friend of the general.
The complainant identified himself as a career procurement professional, Neff reported, and said the Growler had flunked some tests along the way. But also along the way, the Marines backed off some requirements, dropping some specs that required the vehicle to climb a 12-inch obstacle, for example, and mandating that the vehicle be able to reach only 5 mph off the road.
One of Carolina Growler's competitors said such changes allowed the North Carolina company to stay in the race for the contract. Jerry Bazinski, who owns that competitor, Rae-Beck Automotive of Michigan, said, "From what I've seen, the performance specs were chasing the vehicle, rather than the vehicle being built to fit the specs." Carolina Growler officials deny that specifications were watered down.
The Defense Department inspector general will, the public must hope, conduct a thorough investigation and pinpoint not just why the program is two years behind schedule and $15 million over budget, but also why it's a bust.
The U.S. military has long been in love with new gear, much of which has enhanced its effectiveness and given American service personnel better protection. With worthwhile priorities like those in mind, the public has been generous. Yet it's hard to avoid the feeling that when it comes to decisions on spending, the "military industrial complex" operates in a world of its own, lacking accountability. The Osprey project itself, and now this mortar transport system, seem to offer more evidence of that expensive, and disturbing, fact.
Ellie
Published: Jan 28, 2008 12:30 AM
Modified: Jan 28, 2008 01:43 AM
It's a dud
The Marine Corps pushed ahead with an assault vehicle for its Osprey aircraft despite clear signs that it had serious flaws
Maybe no one should be surprised. This "Growler" vehicle, after all, is part of the larger V-22 Osprey aircraft project, the Marine rotorcraft that takes off and lands like a helicopter but moves forward like an airplane. Ospreys are $119 million apiece, and that's after a bunch of cost overruns and safety problems that left 30 people dead. The original specifications for the craft were watered down along the way, and that was only part of a story that The News & Observer's Joseph Neff reported over several years. The Pentagon says all's well with the Osprey now, and 12 of them have been shipped to Iraq.
But they won't be carrying the assault vehicles and mortar-hauling systems that were developed to fit inside. The vehicle, called the Growler, can't transport ammunition safely, it turns out, even though it costs $127,000. To fit inside the Osprey, the Growler had to be narrow. And thus it seems to have a tendency to tip over. A Government Accountability Office investigator said that during testing of the trailer, it ran up on the vehicle three times, and that if anyone had been in the back of the Growler, there could have been serious injuries.
Neff reported Thursday that the Defense Department is investigating. The GAO has investigated. But the Marines apparently were prepared to move ahead with 66 mortar systems and 600 Growler assault vehicles until September. That's when Michigan Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, suggested pulling the reins on the project pending that GAO probe.
Friends and failures
Signs of trouble with the vehicle's stability, complicated by the mortar trailer, were there early on. But the push to develop the project continued. And curiously, the Marines seemed determined to award the contract for the project to General Dynamics and to Carolina Growler, a company in Robbins founded by a retired Marine colonel, Terry Crews, that was going to build the vehicle. Was there a little too much determination there?
Well, an anonymous complaint was filed with the Department of Defense that said a brigadier general who headed the Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Va., steered the contract to Carolina Growler and General Dynamics. Crews, the complaint said, was a friend of the general.
The complainant identified himself as a career procurement professional, Neff reported, and said the Growler had flunked some tests along the way. But also along the way, the Marines backed off some requirements, dropping some specs that required the vehicle to climb a 12-inch obstacle, for example, and mandating that the vehicle be able to reach only 5 mph off the road.
One of Carolina Growler's competitors said such changes allowed the North Carolina company to stay in the race for the contract. Jerry Bazinski, who owns that competitor, Rae-Beck Automotive of Michigan, said, "From what I've seen, the performance specs were chasing the vehicle, rather than the vehicle being built to fit the specs." Carolina Growler officials deny that specifications were watered down.
The Defense Department inspector general will, the public must hope, conduct a thorough investigation and pinpoint not just why the program is two years behind schedule and $15 million over budget, but also why it's a bust.
The U.S. military has long been in love with new gear, much of which has enhanced its effectiveness and given American service personnel better protection. With worthwhile priorities like those in mind, the public has been generous. Yet it's hard to avoid the feeling that when it comes to decisions on spending, the "military industrial complex" operates in a world of its own, lacking accountability. The Osprey project itself, and now this mortar transport system, seem to offer more evidence of that expensive, and disturbing, fact.
Ellie