Date: 1988-07-28
Speaker: BENJAMIN BRADLEE (democrat)
Chamber: S

Executive Editor. Washington Post. Washington. DC. DEAR Ma. BRADLnS: Jack Andersons story in the July 27th Washington Post discusses two weapons programs. Tacit Rainbow and Seek Spinner. These systems are lethal. loitering missiles. designed to operate autonomously and seek out and destroy enemy air defense radar systems. Though the article was well Intended. let me set the record straight concerning the myths oif this story with the real facts surrounding these programs. Myth.-Tacit Rainbow is an "unwanted." program forced upon the Air Force by Congress with the Implication that just the opposite is true for Seek Spinner. Fact.-Air launched Tacit Rainbow fills a validated requirement generated and originated solely within the Air Force. Funding for air launched Tacit Rainbow has been In every Air Force budget request since 1981. Seek Spinner. on the other hand. was canceled in 1984 and has not been In any Air Force budget since. although it continued to receive Congresslena! funding In 1986 and 1987. In Novemnber 1984. then Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger directd that Seek Spinner. along with several other daplicative programs be canceled. He also directed that Tacit Rainbow become the DOD missile to meet the requirements of all three Services. Tacit Rainbow was selected primarily because it was the only system that was both air and ground launchable. Myth.-Implied in the story is that Senator Sam Nunn supported the selection of Tacit Rainbow over Seek Spinner because the air launched Tacit Rainbow production facility was to be built in his hometown of Perry. GA. Fact.-The Department of Defense. not the Congress. chose Tacit Rainbow over Seek Spinner. The site for the air launched Tacit Rainbow facility was not decided until September 1986. a full two years after the decision to cancel Seek Spinner. Myth.-Tacit Rainbow is hobbled by the fact that it must be dropped from an aircraft such as a B52. Fact.-Air launched Tacit Rainbow will not only be launched from the larger B52. but will also be launched from smaller tactical aircraft. During the current test program. Tacit Rainbow has already been launched from a Navy A6E and current plans are for the Air Force to launch it from the EF111 and F1 as well as the B52. Myth.-Tacit Rainbow runs out of fuel in 40 minutes with the implication that the enemy can defeat the missile by simply turning his radar off and waiting until the missile runs out of fuel and crashes. Fact.-The objective of any system designed to suppress enemy air defenses is to keep your own aircraft from being shot down. A system which forces the enemy to turn his radar off so he cannot shoot down your aircraft helps accomplish that objective. Fuel in Tacit Rainbow will allow it to fly at least twice as long as the 40 minutes stated in Andersons story. In many tactical scenarios. getting the enemy to turn off his radars for even 20 minutes would be ample time to successfully accomplish the mission. Myth.-Tacit Rainbow has experienced an enormous cost overrun. Fact.-Since Its start in 1981. the air launched Tacit Rainbow program has experienced a cost overrun. but approximately half of that stated in Andersons story. Despite our best efforts. sometimes cost overruns occur in developmental programs that push state of the art in technology. There are many uncertainties and developmental risks involved in these types of programs. However. the overrun is not due solely to technical difficulties. The original contract on which that overrun percentage is based. called for a ground launched system built to commercial standards. Changing Tacit Rainbow to an air launched system raised the design requirements to military standards to meet airworthiness tests. This was a contributing factor in the cost overrun. Nevertheless. the Full Scale Development program has been functioning under a capped contract since October 198t and there have been no cost overruns since. . Those of us who have worked closely with Sam Nunn. as the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. can assure your readers that pork barrel politics on defense is not his style. Unfortunately the current well publicized allegations of procurement fraud have permitted any disgruntled contractor to allege foul play. no matter how spurious the claim. With every contract award. there are usually several disappointed contractors wanting to revisit the issue. The bottom line is that the decision to choose Tacit Rainbow over Seek Spinner was made in the Pentagon without Congressional influence. Sincerely. JAMES F. MCGOVErn. Acting Secretary of the Air Force.