Congressman John Tierney yesterday defended his support for a $465 million jet engine program that critics, including President Obama, say is unnecessary.
The money continues General Electric's development of an alternate engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jet and likely protects jobs at the company's Lynn plant.
Tierney was joined by Sen. John Kerry in successfully pushing for the money to be part of the 2010 Defense Appropriations Bill.
"This isn't just local politics and parochialism," Tierney said in a phone interview. Keeping the program is in the interest of national security, he said.
Connecticut-based Pratt & Whitney won the primary contract for the Joint Strike Fighter engine in the late 1990s. Congress, meanwhile, awarded General Electric a contract to build a backup. The government intends to buy roughly 2,500 jets for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps over the next 30 years.
"You're putting all your eggs in one basket," Tierney said, referring to the plan to rely on the jet across three branches of the military. "If that's the case, you better be sure that (the engine) works."
Competition, Tierney said, fuels innovation and drives down costs. It benefited the development of the F-15 and F-16 aircraft, he said.
But in the case of the F-35, "single-source" engine development is adequate, critics say.
Obama's position was made clear in a Statement of Administration Policy released last June by the Office of Management and Budget.
"The administration objects to provisions of the (House) bill that mandate an alternative engine program for the (Joint Strike Fighter)," the statement said. "The current engine is performing well with more than 11,000 test hours. Expenditures on a second engine are unnecessary and impede the progress of the overall JSF program."
The Air Force currently has several fleets that operate on a single-engine source, according to the statement. "The alleged risks of a fleet-wide grounding due to a single engine are exaggerated."
But Tierney, whose congressional district includes Gloucester and all of Cape Ann, yesterday contested the claim that the Pratt & Whitney engine was "performing well."
"It's over budget and behind on its testing schedule," he said.
The congressman also said the president's position contradicts his stated belief in the value of competition. A 2009 procurement law called for competition throughout the life cycle of all major defense systems, Tierney said, calling it "basic policy."
Bill Hudak, a Boxford Republican who is challenging Tierney next fall, could not be reached for comment.
Steve Ellis, vice president of the non-partisan, Washington-based watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense, pointed out that not even the Pentagon felt it was necessary to fund the alternate engine program.
"The people who are the loudest supporters are the ones who have the work going on in their district," Ellis said.
Despite his opposition to the alternate engine, Obama last week signed the $626 billion appropriations bill that included money for it.
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