Plan to Drop Sea Patrol Plane Assailed by Pentagon Officials

Two ranking Pentagon officials have challenged the Navy’s decision to halt production of the P-3C Orion submarine-hunting plane. They said that it no longer appears that the service can quickly develop a better, affordable replacement.

The concerns of the two men, spelled out in an internal memo obtained Monday, prompted Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.) to plan a last-minute effort to reverse congressional backing for the shutdown of the P-3C production line, according to an aide to Wilson.

Bill Livingston, the aide, said that Wilson will ask the committee today to “reconsider the issue based on this new information.”

“It just shows that at this point, to terminate all funding for the P-3 would be unwise and does not guarantee that there is an alternative plane that would be developed in the future,” he added. “And when there are so many demands on the budget, it’s awfully hazardous to rely on a new (airplane) start.”

Lockheed Lobbying

The P-3 is made by the California-based Lockheed Corp., which has been campaigning since January to save the Orion. The internal Pentagon memo obtained Monday, however, gives the first indication that Defense Department officials also are becoming alarmed over the Navy’s decision.

A recent change in Navy acquisition plans “raises questions about the affordability of the new program and the desirability of shutting down the current P-3C production line after fiscal 1987,” the memo says.

“A program change of this magnitude, which conflicts with the announced President’s budget and reverses a series of previous decisions by the deputy secretary, should not be made unilaterally by the Navy. Moreover, the Navy’s rationale for the change appears weak.”

The memo was signed by David S. C. Chu, director of program analysis for the Pentagon, and Robert W. Helm, the Pentagon comptroller, and addressed to Richard P. Godwin, undersecretary of defense for acquisition.

Can Review Plans

Godwin has authority to review the weapons purchase plans of all the armed services.

The P-3C is the latest model of a four-engine, turboprop aircraft based on Lockheed’s old Electra passenger plane of the 1950s. The plane, updated over the years, patrols for enemy submarines using sophisticated sonar and carries torpedoes.

Former Navy Secretary John F. Lehman Jr., in seeking to end Lockheed’s monopoly of the program, decided that the Navy should develop a new version of the plane--the P-3G--and invite other aerospace companies to compete for the contract.

The memo from Chu and Helm discloses that the Navy “now wants to change the program again” by opening the competition to any type of airplane that can meet the specifications.

“The Navy’s apparent rationale is that the previous P-3G acquisition strategy will not work because only the current contractor will bid on it,” the two wrote.

“But the new . . . aircraft would potentially have far different capabilities and costs than the approved P-3G. And it’s not obvious that the approved P-3G acquisition strategy wouldn’t produce the desired result--an improved anti-submarine warfare aircraft--at an affordable price.”