2 Congressmen Want to Spend $90 Million on Missiles Navy Calls Obsolete

Ignoring the Navy’s wishes, two members of the House Armed Services Committee are pushing to reopen a closed assembly line of Tomahawk cruise missiles in a move that would benefit a company in one of the lawmakers’ districts.

The two lawmakers, Reps. James V. Hansen (R-Utah) and Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon), say they simply want the Navy to keep a larger reserve of the sea-launched Block III Tomahawk missiles, which won accolades in the Persian Gulf and Yugoslavia campaigns.

They said their efforts have nothing to do with the fact that engines for the soon-to-be-obsolete missile are made in Hansen’s Utah district.

“I see them being shot all over the place and nothing is filling the gap,” Hansen said.

The Navy, however, began phasing out the Block III missiles last year in favor of a new generation of Tactical Tomahawks due out in 2003. The service believes it has enough Block III missiles to wait until then and believes reopening the line wouldn’t be cost-effective, said Lt. Megan Mariman, a Navy spokeswoman.

The new missiles will cost $569,000 each, compared with $1.5 million for the Block III.

“For members to throw money to their constituents for parochial reasons is an example of politically motivated waste,” said retired Rear Adm. Eugene Carroll, who now works for the Center for Defense Information, a watchdog group on military matters.

Congress often adds costly items--derided by critics as “pork”--to the defense budget that haven’t been requested by the Pentagon.

The price tag for the Block III Tomahawks would be $90 million. That’s how much the House Armed Services Committee authorized in May to reopen the production line. The House Appropriations Committee must decide whether to recommend the measure to the full House.

The Navy last year ended production of the missile, which was used in the NATO bombing campaign in Yugoslavia.

The missile’s motors are made by Williams International at its Ogden, Utah, plant. Williams lost money in 1998 when the missile manufacturer persuaded the Navy to cancel the last 100 Block III missiles and use the money for the new Tactical Tomahawks.

Sam Williams, whose company makes the engines, has contributed $8,500 to Hansen since 1986, according to federal campaign records.

Hansen said he didn’t pressure anyone to help Williams and told fellow committee members “that the inventory was going down. I didn’t mention the Block IIIs. If they [the Williams company] make money, more power to them.”

Hunter accused the Navy of taking “a dangerous gamble” that “there will not be a conflict that consumes a large number of Tomahawk missiles.”

The Navy says the new Tactical Tomahawk is worth the wait. It can fly an additional 300 miles, be reprogrammed in flight and take pictures just before impact to determine whether the target was hit.