4.20.2005
Pentagon Nominees Vows to Review Arms Buying Process (Reuters.com)
By Andrea Shalal-Esa
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon is facing sharply rising costs for warships, combat aircraft and other weapons systems and needs to simplify its cumbersome arms purchasing procedures, President Bush's choice to be deputy defense secretary said on Tuesday
"Our cost in every single weapons system has gone up dramatically -- and has gone up dramatically above the inflation rates," Navy Secretary Gordon England told the Senate Armed Services Committee at his confirmation hearing.
"We do need to look at the whole acquisition area," the former defense industry executive said. "Be assured that this will receive my highest attention."
England, 67, nominated to succeed Paul Wolfowitz as the No. 2 official at the Pentagon, spoke as senators from both parties raised concerns about the rising costs of warships and fighter jets and whether the Navy could afford to buy planned numbers of revolutionary vessels.
England, a trusted confidant of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, is expected to win easy approval by the Senate.
(More ... Politics News Article | Reuters.com) ¶ 08:12
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon is facing sharply rising costs for warships, combat aircraft and other weapons systems and needs to simplify its cumbersome arms purchasing procedures, President Bush's choice to be deputy defense secretary said on Tuesday
"Our cost in every single weapons system has gone up dramatically -- and has gone up dramatically above the inflation rates," Navy Secretary Gordon England told the Senate Armed Services Committee at his confirmation hearing.
"We do need to look at the whole acquisition area," the former defense industry executive said. "Be assured that this will receive my highest attention."
England, 67, nominated to succeed Paul Wolfowitz as the No. 2 official at the Pentagon, spoke as senators from both parties raised concerns about the rising costs of warships and fighter jets and whether the Navy could afford to buy planned numbers of revolutionary vessels.
England, a trusted confidant of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, is expected to win easy approval by the Senate.
(More ... Politics News Article | Reuters.com) ¶ 08:12
