By Emelie Rutherford
The congressional debate over whether to cancel the Marine Corps’ Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) will be swayed by the recent fatal accident with one of the vehicles the EFV has been intended to replace, a top lawmaker said.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates proposed on Jan. 6 an array of Pentagon budget cuts including the termination of the EFV, a delayed and technologically ambitious tracked- amphibious vehicle that he said would cost $12 billion more to build. The Marine Corps is preparing to ask industry for input on building a cheaper EFV-like vehicle and upgrading the Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAV) that the EFV was intended to replace.
House Armed Services Committee (HASC) Chairman Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-Calif.) said yesterday those plans will have to be analyzed in light of the death of a Marine who operated an AAV that sank last Friday during training exercises at Camp Pendleton, Calif.
McKeon told reporters at the Capitol that the while more information needs to be learned about the cause of the accident, it nonetheless means “the EFV problem is not resolved.”
“It just makes us aware of trying to continue with old equipment versus new equipment that we’ve known we’ve needed for 30 years and have been working on, is maybe not the best decision,” he said. “We need to look at (it).”
McKeon immediately questioned the EFV-killing proposal on Jan. 6, saying that day the Marine Corps’ capability to conduct amphibious landings “could be jeopardized” by the EFV’s cancellation.
He unveiled this week a new HASC oversight plan that specifically states the committee “will consider recommendations” made by Gates to cancel the EFV and to change plans for four other weapons programs. The Republican-led committee is slated to vote on that proposed oversight plan tomorrow.
It remains to be seen if lawmakers who have voiced skepticism of the plan to cancel the EFV will be won over by the Marine Corps’ plans to upgrade the existing AAVs and begin developing a different, more-affordable swimming tank called the New Amphibious Vehicle (NAV).
Lt. Gen. George Flynn, deputy commandant for combat development and integration, told reporters on Jan. 12 that the service was preparing to issue three requests for information (RFIs) to industry, seeking input on developing the NAV, upgrading the AAVs, and buying Marine Personnel Carriers.
The Marine Corps is expected to have a better sense how these related vehicle efforts will play out starting next month, after the feedback from industry has been collected and ongoing testing on EFV prototypes is completed.
In the meantime, lawmakers including Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), a HASC member and former Marine, are making their advocacy for the EFV known. Other lawmakers who have voiced support for the EFV include HASC Seapower and Expeditionary Forces subcommittee Chairman Todd Akin (R-Mo.) and Ohio lawmakers Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) and Reps. Marcy Kaptur (D) Jim Jordan (R). Additional former Marines such as SASC member Jim Webb (D-Va.) have been sympathetic to the EFV.
The HASC may hold a hearing on Gates’s proposed budget cuts next week, before the changes are officially proposed in the fiscal year 2012 Pentagon budget President Barack Obama will unveil next month, according to congressional aides.
The EFV effort, which suffered cost overruns and technical problems earlier this decade, was restructured and successfully emerged in 2008 from a critical design review that determined the new vehicle design had favorable reliability estimates. As part of a second system design and development effort, formalized in a $766.8 million contract awarded in 2008, contractor General Dynamics [GD] built the seven redesigned prototypes and modified existing, faulty test vehicles.
General Dynamics wants lawmakers to compel the Marine Corps to keep developing the EFV and to purchase 200 instead of 573 vehicles. Reducing the buy to 200 vehicles would save $4.6 billion from the current estimated cost for the EFV program, while still outfitting two Marine Expeditionary Brigades, the company said.