Taking aim at Department of Defense (DOD) plans to request supplemental funding, U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said the Obama administration must “come clean” about the true cost of defending the nation.
McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the need for supplemental funding to support increased troop levels in Afghanistan and expanded operations against ISIS has been known for months.
U.S. troops need the additional funding now, McCain said, adding, “Further delay by the Department of Defense in submitting and justifying a supplemental funding request to the Congress is unacceptable.”
Any request for supplemental funds must extend beyond current operations and also invest in maintaining sufficient readiness and capacity across the force, he said.
McCain also raised questions about delays in the system development and demonstration phase of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program in a letter to Defense Secretary Ash Carter.
“This latest setback appears to call into question some of the recent determinations and actions of Department of Defense senior leaders regarding the development of this critical but troubled program,” McCain wrote.
The delays could lead to more than $1 billion in budget overruns, McCain added.
The recent breakdown of F-35 contract negotiations between the DOD and Lockheed Martin highlights the need for acquisition reforms, McCain said.
“To be sure, developing advanced fighter aircraft is extremely complicated,” he said. “But the decision to produce hundreds of aircraft, on a cost-plus basis, before the technology is developed and completed, and to do all of this, lot after lot, without an actual contract in place between the government and industry, is the height of acquisition malpractice.”
That is why the acquisition reforms in last year’s and this year’s National Defense Authorization Act are so critical, he said.