High Flyers

To the boiling debate on Capitol Hill over how many dollars the Pentagon should get in forthcoming budgets, a second controversy is being added: whether the Defense Department can be trusted to spend wisely the funds Congress does allot. Outside critics have long accused the military services of misleading, inefficient practices that cause huge cost overruns and long delays in delivery of weapons. Now similar criticisms are coming from within the Pentagon, and Defense officials have been unable to hush them up.

The latest blast comes from a team led by five retired Air Force generals a sked last year by Air Force Secretary Verne Orr to study that service's procurement policies. The report has not been released, but the findings have been leaked.

The generals assert that "if we continue to do business as usual," the Air Force will be unable to buy as many planes and missiles as it plans even if Congress votes every penny President Reagan requests. Costs of major weapons systems, the generals found, are continuing to rise far more rapidly than can be accounted for by simple price inflation. For example, they estimate that B-1 bombers will cost $285 million each, vs. Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger's current figure of $200 million. Also, they said, "the current development time for major Air Force [weapons] systems is averaging 11 1/2 years."

The Air Force, say the generals, often grossly underestimates the cost of weapons, orders more than it can pay for, then juggles the production programs in a manner that plays hob with efficiency. Also, it has a habit of "entering full-scale development with immature" technology. Their conclusion: the Air Force should cancel some weapons-buying programs and concentrate on those it considers top priority.

The report confirms the findings of two previous, still suppressed studies by Pentagon Analysts Franklin Spinney and Milton Margolis that accuse the Army and Navy of many of the same inefficiencies. Influential Congressmen are demanding that both Spinney and Margolis testify before them. Asked last week if he would let Spinney appear, Weinberger replied with a flat no. But he may have to yield, particularly since copies of the Air Force generals' report have reached enough Congressmen to ensure a loud debate. This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.