Congress Pushes Fighter Jet Engine That Military Says it Doesn’t Want or Need
27th May 2010
Not really news, but a useful reminder.
“It started off with an earmark that was placed into a defense bill years ago,” said Laura Peterson, who has been tracking the project for the nonpartisan watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense.
The money involved is not insubstantial. By some estimates, Congress has paid $3 billion to GE and Rolls-Royce since first setting aside money for a second engine in the mid-1990s, and it will take close to $3 billion more to have the engines tested, proven and in full production.
And top military brass say they don’t want or need it. One navy admiral told reporters it made no sense to try and carry spare parts two separate engines on an aircraft carrier. “Space is at a premium,” Adm. Gary Roughead said.