|
 One of President Barack Obama’s noisiest detractors, McCain is
expected to take the helm of the powerful Armed Services Committee
in the new Republican-controlled U.S. Senate when the U.S. Congress
convenes in January.
The Arizona senator, a critic of the $399 billion Lockheed Martin
Corp F-35 fighter jet program, is likely to push for tougher
congressional scrutiny of costly U.S. weapons programs, defense
analysts say.
He has in the past launched investigations into waste in the U.S.
defense industry and shaped legislation to end cost overruns on
major arms programs as a senior member of the Senate committee.
McCain, a former Navy pilot and Vietnam War prisoner who lost to
Obama in the 2008 election, has also criticized the administration
on everything from fighting Islamic State militants to arming
moderate Syrian rebels, while seeking a tougher U.S. response to
Russian aggression in Ukraine. As committee chairman he could summon
Pentagon officials to public hearings to explain their strategy on
Syria.
He has challenged the U.S. Air Force to end a monopoly rocket launch
program with Lockheed and Boeing Co, the Pentagon's top two
suppliers, and is pushing for development of a new U.S. rocket
engine to end reliance on Russian-built engines that power one of
the firm's rockets.
 In his new position, McCain would oversee policy legislation that
underpins the Pentagon's budget, although the House and Senate
appropriations committees oversee the Pentagon's actual finances.
He would play a major role in writing the annual defense
authorization bill. It sets policies on everything from defense
spending and new weapons to military base closures and the
elimination of specific weapons programs. The committee does not
control how much money the Pentagon gets, but because it sets
policies, it can control how the money is spent.
"I wouldn't forecast any huge shifts right away," said one defense
industry executive, speaking on condition of anonymity, noting that
McCain had worked closely for years on acquisition reform and
weapons oversight with Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who now
heads the committee.
The executive said companies and defense officials were bracing for
more requests for information, briefings and hearings from a
McCain-led panel.
U.S. weapons makers are wary of what they see as McCain's propensity
to exaggerate problems when they occur, and worry that he does not
understand their need as publicly traded companies to generate
profits for shareholders.
But, McCain also offers them a ray of hope. He wants to ease
automatic across-the-board cuts in military spending that are
squeezing defense industry revenues.
McCain's office did not respond to requests for comment.
[to top of second column] |
"LIGHTNING ROD PROGRAMS"
If McCain becomes chairman, he is expected to focus oversight on
weapons programs that failed to meet their targets for cost and
delivery schedules, said Brett Lambert, a former senior Pentagon
official and industry consultant.
In recent hearings, McCain has singled out the Navy's $34 billion
Littoral Combat Ship program. On April 9, he said poor planning had
led to a new class of ships that could not survive in combat, cost
far more than expected and provide less capability than earlier
warships. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus has defended the program.
Congressional aides and industry executives said the F-35, the
Pentagon's biggest arms program, had made progress after years of
cost overruns and technical setbacks, but McCain has vowed to keep
close tabs on it given its importance.
Air Force Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan, who runs the F-35
program, told reporters last week that McCain was "very, very
discerning and critical" in his oversight of taxpayer dollars and
acknowledged the program could face increased scrutiny.
"I would imagine that I'm going to see Senator McCain more than I
have been," he said, when asked how a Republican-controlled Senate
might affect the program.
McCain is also likely to scrutinize a new presidential helicopter
program under way by Sikorsky Aircraft, a unit of United
Technologies Corp, and the Navy's stalled plan to develop an
unmanned carrier-based drone, a program that is expected to draw
bids from Lockheed, Boeing, Northrop Grumman Corp and privately held
General Atomics, said Jim McAleese, a Virginia-based defense
consultant.
McCain's dogged questioning of a 2001 Air Force deal to lease, not
buy, 100 Boeing 767 aircraft as refueling tankers triggered a
federal investigation and uncovered serious ethics violations by
senior Air Force and Boeing officials, two of whom served prison
terms.
(Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle. Editing by Jason Szep
and Ross Colvin)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
