European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 1, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                I v a gone by Eric Schmitt new York times t he Pentagon breaking its own rules on buying major new. Weapons is pressing ahead with a $4 billion electronic. Radar jamming device that has flunked Crucia flight tests on fighter jets a it is designed to protect the system the airborne self. Protection Jammer had provoked debate at the highest Levels Ord he Pentagon and has become a litmus tet of defense Secretary Dick Cheney a ability to reverse a decade Long pattern of buying weapons before All the bugs have been worked out. Under Cheney s direction the Pentagon last summer adopted guidelines requiring that major projects pass strict performance tests before the government buys them the guidelines were aimed at guarding against embarrassing failures in major s projects such As occurred with the diva an antiaircraft gun the Pentagon spent $2 billion on but cancelled in 1985 after it failed in tests. The Battle Over electronic Hammer which Are being made by units of Westinghouse corp. And itt corp., also the Battle Over electronic hammers underscores a frantic scramble among weapons buyers to secure a piece of the dwindling military budget for their pet projects. Underscores a frantic scramble among Pentagon weapons buyers to secure a piece of the dwindling military budget for their pet projects the hammers Are designed to identify dozens of incoming radars distinguish which Are the most threatening to the plane then Emit electronic signals to Block or confuse the enemy air defences that aim deadly anti aircraft missiles. Tho system was designed to handle More enemy radars More efficiently than existing hammers. A the defense department has spent More than $1 billion on the project but the system is five years behind schedule and engineers have yet to build a prototype that works As promised. The air Force which was to have been the Jammer s largest Cusp Homer has dropped out of the protest  the system costs too much internal defense department. Memorandums indicate senior Pentagon officials including Deputy defense Secretary Donald j. Atwood expressed grave reservations about the program last year. Cheney in fact approved a decision to cancel the program. A few Days Tater Interi be lobbying by the Navy which argued 1,000 warplanes would be vulnerable to attack without the hammers persuaded senior officials to award production contracts for the first 100 devices last fall. The decision to proceed was made despite the new defense department acquisition guidelines. Quot this program is an example of absolutely thumbing your nose at the systems of checks and balances Quot said sen. David Pryor d-ark., the Jammer a fiercest critic in Congress. Flight test results on the Jammer a effectiveness and reliability Are not expected until 192, and the program s supporters and opponents Are bracing for a showdown in the next several weeks when Congress will decide whether to approve the Pentagon s request for $173 million for a second Batch of hammers. _ the devices initially were to Cost about $3 million each but the air Force s decision to drop out of the program is Likely to raise the Cost to about $4 million some experts said. Pryor and other critics argue the Prograis should be cancelled or at the leafsc7btayed until flight test results Are available. Moreover they say reduced tensions with the soviet Union and the emerging democracies in Eastern Europe have diminished a major threat to United states warplanes. Pentagon officials say the need for the hammers is too great and the problems. With it too Small to warrant cancelling the program.  flawed testing methods were largely to blame for the test failures and modifications that have been a it fide since the tests were conducted have yielded near perfect results in Laboratory a simulations. Atwood has promised Congress the Pentagon would not spend any More Money on the Jammer until it met All performance standards. Quot this system if it proves out in tests will be Well Worth everything we put into it Quot Atwood recently told the Senate governmental affairs subcommittee on Federal services. Quot if it does not we will cancel it Quot great expectations have enveloped the Jammer since its beginning 15 years ago when Navy and air Force engineers set out to build a sophisticated electronic countermeasure device to protect u s warplanes on the battlefields of the. Future. In the largest electronic combat project pursued jointly by the Navy and air Force the Pentagon planned to buy to Jamr ners in bulk about 2,300 in All. With 800 going to the Navy. A the Pentagon said buying the hammers Quot and if you buy a few p0zen of them the savih6s Are tremendous Quot Ltd 19 in bulk would save hundreds of millions of dollars but tests in 1988 and 1989 at he China Lake naval air weapons Center in California and at Eglin fab fla., showed the device carried aboard f-16 and f-18 fighters had difficulty detecting identifying and jamming some older types of radar. The tests also revealed serious problems with the Jammer s reliability and its ability to diagnose internal 1 malfunctions. Engineers have struggled id the past two decades to develop electronic defensive systems but Anthony r. Grieco the defense department s director of electronic combat concedes the reliability of such devices has been "poor.&Quot. A classified general accounting office report shows four jamming devices bought by the air Force have failed operational tests. In some cases it said entire systems were bought at $200 million to $300 million and shipped to warehouses never to be used. A the airborne Jammer a poor test results set off a debate m the Pentagon Las summer pitting military program managers against Civ Jan defense department budget officials intent on cancelling a troubled program. A defense department inspector general s  this year found  had j Nampula Teehe testers reports to play Down the devices flaws and emphasize its strengths the Pentagon denies the test results were misrepresented in any Way. Pentagon program managers arc under increasing pressure to present projects in Tho most optimistic Light to secure financing in Competition with other projects acquisition experts say internal defense department memorandums that Tell of last summer s debate Over the device indicate senior Pentagon officials had Strong reservations about the Jammer. D Quot terminating the Asp program must be seriously considered due to issues of operational effectiveness demonstrated reliability and affordability Quot said Michael . Stone in a july 13, 1989, memo to members o a High level Pentagon acquisition review  was then acting As under Secretary of defense for acquisition. By the end of july a Compromise Jilan was under discussion to begin limited production Quot if you decide to go ahead with a very limited production then it must be mandatory that full demonstration of the performance and reliability be demonstrated within one year Quot Atwood wrote on july 31, in reply to Stone now Secretary of the army. Quot if it is not then the program must be cancelled Quot in August 1389, just weeks alter. Atwood outlined the Pentagon s new acquisition guidelines the defense department approved the limited initial production the stars and stripes a a a Page 13