Weinberger Critical of Two New Weapons : Tells Senate Panel of Problems With Missile, Anti-Aircraft Gun

Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger signaled more problems Tuesday for two highly sophisticated, and troubled, weapons--an air-to-air missile and an anti-aircraft gun--even as the Pentagon circulated a memorandum indicating his tentative approval of the missile.

The defense secretary, who bowed to congressional pressure last January and delayed a decision on future purchases of the Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile, told the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee Tuesday that the missile, known as the AMRAAM, “has been a disappointment to me.”

Nonetheless, according to a one-page memorandum he sent June 10 to Navy Secretary John F. Lehman Jr. and Air Force Secretary Verne Orr, he has approved an Air Force recommendation to buy 17,000 of the missiles, produced by Hughes Aircraft Co. of El Segundo, if cost-containment procedures are implemented.

Also on Tuesday, Weinberger said the Army’s Sgt. York Division Air Defense Gun “hasn’t yet begun to deliver the kind of performance it should.” He said final testing of the weapon, manufactured by Ford Aerospace & Communications Corp. of Newport Beach, is incomplete.

Weinberger Memo

In his memo on AMRAAM, Weinberger directed the Air Force “to press forward” with the program after receiving the “strong assurance” that the project’s once-skyrocketing costs would be curbed. The missile, he told the subcommittee, is “a very good example of a capability we have to have.”

He said he had two choices: canceling the missile and leaving the United States without the sophisticated capabilities the missile offers fighter pilots, or reducing the costs so that the Pentagon can “at least get it on line.”

The missile, guided by its own on-board radar, is intended as a weapon that fighter pilots can “fire and forget.” It would allow pilots to release missiles at an enemy aircraft up to 40 miles away without having to remain in the vicinity to guide the missiles to their targets.

The missile is intended for use on some of the Pentagon’s most sophisticated aircraft, including the Air Force’s F-15s and F-16s and the Navy’s F-14s and F-18s. Under plans put on hold by Weinberger in January, the Air Force was to purchase 17,217 of the missiles at a cost of $7.7 billion. The Navy would buy 7,272 for $3.1 billion.

‘Tremendous’ Concept

“The concept is tremendous. The cost is something else,” said a senior Pentagon official, questioning whether Weinberger was willing to abandon the missile “given the time it takes to start over again.”

“I don’t think it’s a settled issue,” the official said, declaring the AMRAAM and the Sgt. York, also known as DIVAD, “are teetering on the edge.”

Of the Sgt. York, Weinberger told the subcommittee: “This thing, so far, is a great disappointment.” He added he might decide to revert to “some kind of Chaparral system,” referring to the Army weapon delivered in 1969 that fires low-altitude, self-propelled surface-to-air missiles.

Critics have claimed that the Sgt. York, intended for use by the Army as a mobile anti-aircraft gun, is unable to hit the target set for it. The tests now under way are designed to help Weinberger decide whether to abandon the gun.