Air Force May Still Buy Northrop Jet : F-20 Praised at Senate Hearing; Lawmakers Seek Competition
The Air Force is seriously considering buying the Northrop F-20 fighter jet, according to two top Air Force officials who praised the aircraft Thursday at a hearing of a key Senate subcommittee.
Assistant Air Force Secretary Thomas Cooper and Lt. Gen. Robert D. Russ said they are considering an F-20 purchase in the fiscal 1987 defense budget, which will be prepared by Pentagon officials in coming months.
“It’s an excellent plane,” Russ told the Senate defense appropriation subcommittee.
Committee members, angered by the latest round of defense contracting scandals, warned Russ and Cooper that they are likely to force the Pentagon to buy the F-20, possibly as soon as fiscal 1986. They expressed strong support for the concept of fostering competition among manufacturers.
The statements are the clearest evidence yet that Los Angeles-based Northrop’s unsolicited offer to sell the F-20 at bargain prices, accompanied by a massive lobbying and publicity campaign in recent weeks, is having a major impact.
Key Senators Back Jet
Northrop Chairman Thomas V. Jones offered the Air Force 396 F-20 jets for $15 million each under a fixed-price contract, substantially below the estimated $18-million to $20-million cost of the rival F-16, made by General Dynamics.
The F-20 also picked up at least four important endorsements from key senators on the appropriations subcommittee, including its chairman, Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Ala.).
“I’m telling you, you’re going to get some F-20s whether you like it or not,” Stevens told the two Air Force officials. “We like the idea of competing planes.”
Sen. Warren Rudman also noted that General Dynamics is “in mild disrepute in some sectors of the Defense Department” and should not be rewarded with a sole-source contract to build fighter jets when an alternative system could be purchased.
Sen. William Proxmire (D-Wisc.) and Sen. Lawton Chiles (D-Fla.) said they favored an F-20 purchase.
The senators heard little disagreement. Indeed, Cooper predicted that a competition between the General Dynamics F-16 and the Northrop F-20 might drive down costs and said that Air Force Secretary Verne Orr “is very interested in getting all the competition we can.”
In proposing the F-20 sale, Northrop abandoned a position that it took early in the plane’s development, when it said it had no intention of selling the F-20 to the Pentagon.
Northrop originally intended only to export the relatively low-cost fighter to foreign air forces. Without any sales commitments, Northrop spent $774 million on the F-20 through the end of 1984 and plans to spend an additional $148.5 million this year.
Stamp of Approval
But potential foreign customers have balked at buying an aircraft that is not operated by U.S. forces. Consequently, the F-16 has won every marketing battle against the F-20.
Some analysts believe that Northrop has sought an Air Force purchase as a stamp of approval.
Jones has said that Northrop’s sales offer would allow the Air Force to increase its force levels despite a budget squeeze and rising costs for existing jet fighters.
The Air Force’s support for the F-20 also appears to be a major reversal. The Pentagon historically has been unreceptive to attempts by contractors to sell weapons not developed under Pentagon sponsorship. By purchasing the F-20, the Air Force would be effectively rebuking its own powerful development arm, the Air Force Systems Command, one congressional staffer said.
The timing of the recent moves to sell the F-20 to the Air Force was described by one Capitol Hill defense expert as “brilliant,” because the military is just now preparing next year’s budget and is in the midst of sharp criticism because of huge defense costs.
“There isn’t a spot on the Hill that has been untouched by Northrop paper since they submitted their proposal,” the committee aide said.
Even more effective than Northrop’s direct efforts, however, has been a concerted lobbying campaign undertaken by the U.S. Air National Guard, according to aides for half a dozen senators and congressmen.
Northrop has encouraged the Guard, which historically operates with second-hand equipment, to examine and fly the F-20 at Edwards Air Force Base, where three prototype F-20s are being flight tested.
As a result, the Guard’s national leadership earlier this year recommended buying the F-20, a fact that was prominently mentioned in the Northrop annual report issued last month.
One Senate committee staff member said the F-20 had the backing of virtually every Air National Guard adjutant general in the nation.
