DoD is throwing more stars at the troubled F-35 program:
Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates announced today that the President has made the following nomination:Navy Vice Adm. David J. Venlet has been nominated for reappointment to the rank of vice admiral and assignment as director, Joint Strike Fighter program, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Arlington, Va. Venlet is currently serving as commander, Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md.
The program is to get new leadership and Lockheed Martin is to forgo hundreds of millions of dollars in award fees, but U.S. defense secretary Robert Gates is “not sure” whether the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter can avoid breaching Nunn-McCurdy limits on cost growth.
The F-35 program is being restructured in a bid to stabilize its cost and schedule, after Lockheed fell behind in delivering aircraft for flight testing. The nearly $11 billion requested for fiscal 2011 reflects the Pentagon’s decision to increase funding for development and reduce procurement in an effort to get the program back on track.
Venlet has been for the last few years the Commander of NAVAIR, a three-star position responsible for all aircraft procurement programs and in-service engineering support. Moving him to run the Joint Program Office is, I believe, unprecedented.
I hope it’s not a sign of desperation.
I realized things up there in the rarified air of flags and stars are a little different, but why soes he need to be “nominated for reappointment to the rank of vice admiral…” Once aomeone gets the third star do they have to be rappointed every time they change assignments?
I sure hope the JSF does what it’s supposed to do.
I too hope this isn’t a sign of desperation, but I don’t think that’s the way to bet.
Idaho, Once you are up in the rarified air of GOFOs things are indeed different. I would bet that Venlet may be approaching the end of a previous 4 year deadline and had to be reappointed to be able to remain on active duty.
Appointment, not deadline.
Admiral Venlet was the RIO of Fast Eagle 102 that shot down a Libyan SU-22 in 1981.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Sidra_incident_(1981)
So, it befalls the good Admiral to come with axe in hand and perform the delicate surgery of Cost Improvement? Kind of s dirty deal for a guy who has given it his best all these years. JSF is the sow’s ear, and Gates can’t seem to get over making a silk purse out of the critter.
Back in the day, when the nation had numerous flugwerken designing airborne weapons platforms, there would have been several new company sponsored designs ready for flight, any one of which would have blown the doors off of JSF. So much for the “benefits” of corporate consolidation…”Competition. Competition. Where are thou, Competition?”
I dunno, Mongo. If we go back far enough in the day, there were great single inventors, Edison being the classic example. But the bulk of even individual scientific discoveries these days are predominantly done by bigger & bigger teams, now often multi-institutional. Seems to me we are seeing a natural progression in the nature of things due to complexity. Any platform that is going to beat the pants off existing hardware is going to have how many parts? With how many contributing engineers & programmers? As a comparison, think of the update time for a new version of MS-DOS versus a new version of Windows 7? Could a lone Bill-Gates-type geek outdo a cast of thousands? Or might the JSF might for all intents & purposes be the last US platform of the century?
“I hope it’s not a sign of desperation.”
So ‘hope’ is your plan?
Desperation?
Absolutely. The ‘low cost’ alternative JSF is anything but ‘low cost’.
Great potential? Sure, but like anything new… it’s gonna cost ya…
1. All 3 and 4 star jobs are by appointment, and yeah, if you move from one job to another, you need to be re-appointed. Also, you need approval to retire at 3 or 4 stars. Just as RADM Sestak.
2. Didn’t Gates just recently fire the USMC one star in charge of the JSF and replace him with the 2 star?
Brad is right in #1. I’m only partially right, but the part that’s right isn’t relevant here.
Whole lot of suckage to be passed around. Between this mess, LCS and LPD-17 fiasco’s, Navy aquisitions seem to be as messed up as a wooden watch.
At least a wooden watch is right twice a day (assuming a 12 hour face, of course).
Gates seems to think that cost savings on the program is in direct proportion to the amount of brass and scrambled eggs that you toss at the program. Hmmm, let me think about that. Nope….won’t work.
STOVL F-35B Hovers for First Time (Graham Warwick – 3/17/2010) – “This just in from NAS Patuxent River – the first STOVL F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, aircraft BF-1, completed its first hover today (March 17). With the lift system engaged, the aircraft slowed from 150 kt to zero airspeed and hovered at 150ft for 2 minutes, moving up and down and left and right to check hover control. BF-1 then continued to to a short landing. A successful hover clears the way for the F-35′s first vertical landing.”
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/blogs/defense/index.jsp?plckController=Blog&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3A27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7Post%3A3d82d757-8ad1-40ee-8d12-f815c1ae1535
It’s a sign of desperation. I just wonder what VADM Venlet did to deserve this millstone around his neck.
USMC had their turn at the helm. ADM Venlet has plenty-o-chops for this, and is absolutely the right guy, at the right time. Unfortunately, it’s a helluva time for him to have to get thrown into the fray. The words singularly and eminently qualified come to mind. (his bio is up all over the place).
When the pain comes, as it must, he’ll be the guy on the dais by SecDef’s and CJCS side saying, “we looked at it every way, did every thing we could, and this is what has to be next”. And it won’t be for a lack of having someone onboard who REALLY knows how to do that which must be done. I wish him well. It will be a hard row to hoe.
bc, what worries me is that Venlet may be in a position where the technically correct answer is not the politically acceptable answer. I’ve seen programs like that, and they are utterly shattering to morale throughout the acquisition community.
I sure hope this program doesn’t spiral out of control anymore with Venlet at the helm, he would make a GREAT CNO.
The problem with JSF is the concept behind it and wet dream requirements forcing a horrible configuration that won’t be effective. It’s not who’s been in charge. This is a cosmetic change/new sacrificial lamb. The best ADM Venlet can do is deliver a POS sooner rather than later compared to the already way late schedule. Nothing about this fiasco is encouraging.
“Restructured”? How do you “restructure” a program already waaaaay over budget and behind schedule? While a lowly flag aide at NavSea the good VADM used to say “in this business success is measured not by how good you look or how well you do, but by how good you look compared to the poor soul you replaced because he didn’t do well”. We had that one printed up and framed for the outer office. Maybe this will be a case of VADM V losing a couple of battles but ultimately winning the war. If not, what are the alternatives? 12,000 hr Hornets?
Admiral Venlet is a VERY smart and savvy gent.
If anyone can pull JSF outta the hole that it has dug, it’ll be him. If he has a choice between the technical truth and the “political truth”, he’ll support the former.
Good luck, Admiral.
Will any post-mortem of this program lay the blame where it truly belongs — squarely at the feet of Congress who set-up the JSF’s imbecilic procurement model? Nope — I won’t be holding my breath.