European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 21, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday december 21, 1.990 the stars and stripes Pago 3crisis in the Gull Bradley fighting vehicle m1a1 tank ah-64a Apache Crew 3 combat weight 24 tons Width 10,5 Leet height 10 feet Max Road Speed 40 Mph Max water Speed 4.5 Mph armament main 25 my Cannon armament 2-tube Tow launchers Crew 4 combat weight 65 tons Width 12 feet height. 9.5 foot Max Road Speed Max Cross country Speed 4 Mph 29 Mph armament main 120mmgun armament coaxial 7.62 my gun. Amp Ltd to Crow 2 maximum Takeoff weight 21.000 lbs Wing Span 17 foot height 15 feet Max cruise Speed 184 Mph armament 30mm Chain gun up to 16 hellfire antitank missiles Max Load for Chain gun. 1,200 ads sources Jane s Armour and artillery a amp Sites Boohoo sources Jane s Armour and artillery a amps Wes of Thor sources Juno s a Tho world s Airt rift a amps Susan Harris War would be acid test for . Weapons continued from Page 1. That were glossed Over during development. The a-12 was found to be far behind schedule and billions of dollars Over its original Cost not Long after defense Secretary Dick Cheney told Congress the program was going  the situation a an abiding cultural problem a an internal report said Pentagon weapons program managers a do not have positive incentives to display the full Range of risk in their programs to officials who might Cut their  the juror Over the a-12 illustrates the institutional reluctance of military procurement managers to Forward bad news on weapons systems up the Chain of command for fear of losing prestige resources and in some cases their jobs. ,. A the program managers know they re going to be in the Job for Only a few years before being rotated out a said David Isenberg an analyst with the Center for defense information a Washington based think tank that studies military issues. A so the real concern tends to focus on maintaining funding for the program in Congress and keeping things going Well enough Long enough to hand the project off to a  having the same officials involved in development production and testing May also hinder the procurement process said Greg Williams a research associate with the project on government procurement a self styled watchdog group. A a it a hard for the people who develop these weapons to reject their own programs once they get to the testing phase even if the tests Are not that successful a Wil Iiams said. T the a-12 is a weapon system still in the development stages but negative news about weapons already in the Field crops up regularly and is equally distasteful to military officials. One recent system to come under heavy verbal fire is the $14 million ah-64 Apache an All weather Day night tank killer that the army Bills As a the most advanced helicopter in the world earlier this year the general accounting office issued a devastating report on the Apache listing such defects As leaking cockpits and electronic compartments unreliable targeting systems and Rotor Blades that Are prone to excessive Wear. Investigators said the aircraft still has problems that were first identified in 1982, vet the army now has More than 600 apaches Many of them now in saudi Arabia a and has ordered an additional 130. Gao investigators renewed their criticism of the Apache on a recent edition of the television news Magazine �?o60 minutes a charging the army with boosting the ah-64s reliability indicators by flying the helicopter for less than 30 minutes a Day. I officials with the army and Mcdonnell Douglas the Apache contractor said problems identified by the Gao have largely been fixed in the 18  investigators gathered their data. A criticism of the Apache in recent months has focused on concerns that Are no longer valid a said Tom Gunn president of Mcdonnell Douglas helicopter co. In Mesa Ariz. Gunn said Apache readiness has increased steadily Over the past year As problems have been fixed. A the Apache is hardly the Only High profile weapon system deployed in the Middle East that has Hud its share of problems and critics. Among the others a them a series of main Battle tanks. Them a s Turbine engine has been dogged by reports of unreliability since the tanks debut. A report on them a by the project on government procurement said the tank consistently failed five of its six reliability availability maintainability and durability requirements based on the army a own data from As recently As 1988. A Many of them los reliability failures can be traced to its Turbine engine a said Greg Williams who wrote the report. A turbines Are Complex temperamental and  officials with the army a tank automotive come in Warren mich., said there has been no systemic problems with the tank caused by conditions in saudi Arabia. Blit the army so a manual lists a Litany of precautions that must be taken to avoid damage front heat Quot it s hard for the people who develop these weapons to reject their own programs once Getto the testing phase even if the tests Are not that  a Greg Williams dust and Sand a All obvious concerns in the desert. Army officials said the problem of Sand fouling the tanks engine has been solved with improved air filters that were tested at the Yuma proving grounds in Arizo a. But questions remain regarding the tanks reliability in the Middle East. Desert training Sites in the United states do not compare to saudi Arabia where the Sand is so Fine that it can make its Way into sealed compartments a saudi Arabia certainly presents a More challenging set of maintenance requirements than . Units have Ever had to face a said Isenberg of the Center for defense information a Bradley fighting vehicle. After finally agreeing or submit the Bradley to live fire testing in the mid-1980s, the army was accused of rigging the tests to minimize the damage that would be done to a fully loaded and fully fuelled vehicle a not to mention the troops inside a by antitank weapons. Air Force col James Burton who supervised the tests said 10 live fire shots were carefully set up to avoid hitting certain areas of the vehicle such As ammunition storage Sites that would result in catastrophic fires or explosions. The military tried to shuffle Burton to nondescript assignments when the inevitable controversy erupted after his report surfaced in Congress and the Media and he eventually retired. But As a result of More live tire tests the army has entered into a multimillion Dollar upgrade program a which will nut be completed for another three to four years a to strengthen the exterior Armor and Crew compartment lining of the Bradley. Isenberg said the Bradley is a Good example of How not to test a weapons system. A the services dread live fire testing because it Means blowing up a multimillion Dollar piece of equipment a he said. A but Given the Multi male Cost of most weapons programs one destroyed system is  millions of dollars could have been saved if the Brad icy which went into production in 1980 and was first fielded in 1983, had undergone rigorous live fire testing earlier he said. A to Ltd Navy s Aegis ship combat system. The reliability of Aegis designed to track enemy missiles and planes while guiding . Missiles to their targets has been questioned for years. /. In 1983, after More than 2 1 years of development then Secretary of the Navy John Ahmari or. Acknowledged that tests on the Aegis had a not been that in a pressive.�?�. A a. A 1. A in 1988, a Navy ship using Aegis shot Down a fully loaded iranian passenger Jet killing All aboard after mistaking it for a fighter aircraft Mij Ilary investigators said human error a misinterpretation of information provided by the Aegis system a was to blame for the Accident rather than Aegis itself. But rep Denny Smith a Ore a pointed out that Aegis had failed three of four operational tests including one on the ship that shot Down the iranian Passen Ger Jet not Long before the incident occurred. A to put it bluntly testing is rigged to make weapons look belter than they Are and their capabilities Are exaggerated even further in misleading reports to Congress a Smith said. V / a anti tank weapons. The relatively new at4 antitank weapon that infantry squads Are carrying in saudi Arabia probably cannot destroy or even badly damage modern soviet t-72 tanks when Fred head on a and Iraq has 500 t-72s, / to be effective the at4 has to be fired at the sides or the rear of a t-72. A if an infantryman is in that position he a already been overrun a Isenberg said. The army s other Short Range antitank missile for infantryman is the dragon first fielded in 1975. The1 dragon is wire guided which requires the gunner to hold his aim on the target while the missile is in flight and thus expose himself to enemy fire. A missiles. A general accounting office report in late 1987 said four of the Navy a most modern air to air and air to surface missiles the. Sparrow Harpoon Phoenix and harm for High Speed anti radiation missile had manufacturing defects that could cause them to fail in combat. The Sparrow failed twice when fired by an f-14 fighter at what was believed to be an iranian plane Over the Strait of Hormuz in August 1987, the air forces potential replacement fur the Sparrow the advanced medium Range air to air missile or Omraam has also had problems in initial tests that caused the service to temporarily embargo deliveries from the manufacturer earlier this year. A a we be never had the Chance to Check the ultimate Bottom line for the weapons we now have and that is do they work on the Battlefield a a congressional staffer said. A. A. A v a a if we go to War in the Middle East and these weapons done to work like they re supposed to the military a and Congress a will face a lot of hard questions from the american people after the trauma of the War itself fades a lie said