March 13, 2003

GAO Report Says F-22 Costs Soaring Out of Control
For Immediate Release
Contact: Eric Miller or Danielle Brian at (202) 347-1122 or email defense@pogo.org

The F-22 fighter development and testing program is dragging behind schedule and attempts by the Air Force to control costs are failing miserably, according to a new report by the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO), Tactical Aircraft: DOD Needs to Better Inform Congress about Implication of Continuing F/A-22 Cost Growth, GAO-03-280.

The new report, released late Wednesday by Representative John Tierney, (D-MA), concludes that the Air Force has been unable to implement the cost-saving measures it promised and has essentially kept Congress in the dark about excessive cost overruns.

The report further states:
  • At the current rate of spending, the Air Force will be able to buy only 224 F-22s, and not the 339 planned as recently as last fall.
  • The Department of Defense failed to disclose $1.3 billion in F-22 program cost overruns.
  • The F-22 program is on target to exceed cost limitations imposed by Congress.


"The story of the gold-plated F-22 fighter just gets worse with every financial analysis," said POGO Senior Defense Investigator Eric Miller. "We hope that Defense Secretary Rumsfeld will finally say 'enough is enough' and pull the plug on this overpriced and unneeded Cold War relic."

Under Secretary of Defense, E.C. Aldridge, Jr. defended the F-22 Low-Rate Initial Production decision to Rep. Tierney in an October 3, 2001 letter .

For more information on the F-22.

POGO investigates, exposes, and seeks to remedy systemic abuses of power, mismanagement, and subservience by the federal government to powerful special interests. Founded in 1981, POGO is a politically-independent, nonprofit watchdog that strives to promote a government that is accountable to the citizenry.

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updated:Friday, December 03, 2004