Marines, Navy looking at fighter jet shortage

The Hill:

The Navy and Marine Corps face a much larger shortfall of fighter jets than expected, four senior members of the House Armed Services Committee warned Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

In a letter to Gates, the lawmakers said Pentagon assumptions of a shortfall of 100 fighter jets are “too optimistic.”

Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) signed the letter along with ranking Republican Rep. Buck McKeon (Calif.). Two other panel members with jurisdiction over Navy programs, Reps. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.) and Todd Akin (R-Mo.), also signed the letter to Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The four lawmakers questioned the assumptions underlying the Pentagon’s calculations as well as its ability to fund efforts to tamp down the shortfall.

“We were concerned to learn that the shortfall of 100 aircraft, referenced in your testimony, is based on a number of optimistic assumptions and is only reached after several management efforts have been implemented,” the four lawmakers wrote to Gates in the March 12 letter. “Of great concern is the fact the shortfall number you mentioned is contingent on actions that are not included in either the FY 2011 budget request or the future years defense program.”

...

Who says there is no bipartisanship in Congress? This is a concern shared by both parties, at least on this committee. Since the Marines and the Navy are the forward forces in times of conflict, this has the potential of limiting our ability to react to a crisis.

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