WEAPONS WITHOUT A CAUSE

Weapons without a Cause The Politics of Weapons Acquisition in the United States

Thea Farrell Lecturer in Security Studies Department of Politics University of Exeter

First published in Great Britain 1997 by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills. Basingstoke. Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-1-349-25111-7 ISBN 978-1-349-25109-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-25109-4

First published in the United States of America 1997 by ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC., Scholarly and Reference Division. 175 Fifth Avenue. New York. N.Y. 10010

ISBN 978-0-312-16103-3

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Farrell. Theo. 1967-Weapons without a cause: the politics of weapons acquisition in the United States 1 Theo FarrelL p. em. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-312-16103-3 1. United States-Armed Forces-Procurement. 2. United States­-Armed Forces-Weapons systems. 3. United States-Politics and government. I. Title. UC263.F37 1996 355.8'2'0973-dc20 96-22369

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© Theo Farrell 1997 Softcover reprint of the hardcover I st edition 1997

All rights reserved. No reproduction. copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission.

No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright. Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. 90 Tottenham Court Road. London WI P 9HE.

Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

The author has asserted his rights to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

This book is printed on paper suitable for recyding and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources.

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Contents

List of Tables IX

Acknowledgements x

Abbreviations and Acronyms Xll

Explaining Weapons Acquisition

Previous Explanations 2

What Drives Weapons Acquisition 8

Methodology and Case Selection 17

2 Strategic Issues 23

A-12 Avenger 23

Sgt York DIVAD 28

US Nuclear Strategy 35

MX Peacekeeper 42

B-2 Stealth Bomber 57

Conclusion 65

3 Institutional Issues 67

The Military Services 67

The President 73

Other Policy Actors 78

Manipulating the Acquisition Process 80

A-12 Avenger 89

Sgt York DIVAD 93

MX Peacekeeper 98

B-2 Stealth Bomber 107

Conclusion 118

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viii Contents

4 Budgetary Issues

The Defence Budget and Defence Expenditure

DoD Policy Structures

A-12 Avenger

Sgt York DIVAD

MX Peacekeeper

B-2 Stealth Bomber

Conclusion

5 Weapons Without a Cause

Explaining the Case Studies

122

126

140

149

153

157 162

171

175

176

What this Study Revels About US Weapons Acquisition 177

Policy Implications: Waste in Weapons Acquisition 179

Notes 186

Bibliography of Secondary Sources 212

Index 223

List of Tables 1.1 Case Selection 20

2.1 Targeting Priorities in US Nuclear Employment Policy 38

2.2 Composition of US and Soviet Nuclear Forces in 1980 45

2.3 ICBM Force Structure (1980s) 52

2.4 Strategic Issues in Weapons Acquisition 66

3.1 Institutional Issues in Weapons Acquisition 118

3.2 Manipulating the Acquisition Process 119

4.1 US Defence TOA, 1975-93 126

4.2 US Defence Outlays, 1975-93 127

4.3 BA Requests by Weinberger and Congressional Responses, FY 1981-9 130

4.4 DoD TOA by Title, FY 1975-93 139

4.5 Budgetary Issues in Weapons Acquisition 172

4.6 The Budget Climate, 1977-92 173

4.7 The Budget Climate and Weapons Acquisition 173

5.1 Study Findings 175

IX

Acknowledgements

I had plenty of assistance in first producing my Ph.D. thesis and then turning it into a book. lowe my largest intellectual debt to my Ph.D. supervisor, friend and colleague, Eric Herring. Whenever I lost sight of my work, Eric was there to provoke new ideas, structure thoughts, check details, and map out the big picture. I also owe special thanks to Thomas H. Hammond. Tom volunteered to read my entire manuscript (some parts twice!), which he returned with suggestions and correc­tions literally scribbled on every page along with fifteen pages of single­spaced feedback; much of the revision was shaped by Tom's incisive comments.

I am also grateful for the support and assistance of several other people. Nick Rengger, who was my co-supervisor for a time, constantly reminded me that there is more to the study of international relations than bombs and bullets. The Head of Politics at Bristol University, (where I took my Ph.D.1 Richard Hodder-Williams, was generous in his support and encouragement; as my internal Ph.D. examiner, he also made helpful suggestions for revising the thesis, as did my external examiner, Colin McInnis. David H. Dunn, Lynn Eden and Malcolm Shaw read and commented on sections on the MX, US nuclear strat­egy and the presidency respectively; naturally, any errors or shortcom­ings that may exist in these sections are solely mine. David also kindly let me photocopy his private files on the MX. My thanks to Matthew Evangelista and Graham Spinardi for sending me useful documents that I could not have otherwise obtained. I am particularly grateful to my parents, Brian and Marie-Therese Farrell, who gave me the inspira­tion to embark on a career in academia; their loving support made such a career choice possible. I should also like to thank my commis­sioning editor at Macmillan, Annabelle Buckley, for enthusiastically responding to my book proposal, and for being accommodating as I re­worked my Ph.D. I also owe much to my former mentors at University College Dublin, Ronan Fanning and Richard Sinnott, for fostering my interest in US national security policy in my undergraduate and Mas­ters studies.

I am indebted to several institutions for their financial support. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office gave me a generous scholarship for the first couple of years of my Ph.D. studies. The Economic and Social Research Council also gave me a scholarship which enabled me

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Acknowledgements xi

to complete my third year of studies at Bristol. In addition, I received financial assistance from Bristol University and the Politics Depart­ment at Bristol.

Lastly, I wish to thank my partner, Helene Lambert; her unwavering support, sound advice, gentle nudges, and boundless confidence in me, made the tough job of producing this book a lot easier.

Portions of this book have appeared in earlier forms as 'Weapons Without A Cause: Buying Stealth Bombers the American Way', Arms Control, 14/2 (1993) and 'Waste in Weapons Acquisition: How the Amer­icans Do It All Wrong', Contemporary Security Policy, 16/2 (1995). I am grateful to these journals for their permission to reuse this material.

Abbreviations and Acronyms

ACDA ACM AD AFSC ALCM ASD,R&E

ASW ATF

ATGM AWACS BA BEA C3I CAW CBF CBO CG CINC CINCSAC CJCS CNO CRS CVBG DAB D,DT&E DIVAD DMR DoD D,OT&E DPRB DRB DSARC DSB DT&E

Arms Control and Disarmament Agency advanced cruise missile air defence Air Force Systems Command air-launched cruise missile Assistant Secretary of Defence for Research and Engineering anti-submarine warfare auto-terrain following radar; also Advanced Tactical Fighter anti-tank guided missile airborne warning and control system budget authority Budget Enforcement Act command, control and communications and intelligence Carrier Air Wing Carrier Battle Force Congressional Budget Office Consolidated Guidance commander-in-chief Commander-in-Chief of Strategic Air Command Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chief of Naval Operations Congressional Research Service Carrier Battle Group Defence Acquisition Board Director of Developmental Testing and Evaluation Divisional Air Defence System Defence Management Review Department of Defence Director, Operational Testing and Evaluation Defence Planning and Resources Board Defence Resources Board Defence Systems Acquisition Review Council Defence Science Board development, testing and evaluation

Xll

ECM EOP FAADS FEBA FLIR FLOT FM FOC FYDP

GAO GOC GPO GRH HASC HDAS ICBM IFV IOC IUM JCS JSTPS LHX LNO LO LOW MAD MARV MBT MGCS MIC MIRV MPS MX NATO NCA NSA NSC NSDD NSDM NSTDB

Abbreviations and Acronyms

electronic counter measures Executive Office of the President Forward Area Air Defence System forward edge of the battlefield area forward looking infra-red front line of troops Field Manual full operational capability Five Year Defence Plan; also Future Years Defense Plan General Accounting Office Government Operations Committee General Printing Office Gramm-Rudman-Hollings House Armed Services Committee House Defence Appropriations Subcommittee intercontinental ballistic missile infantry fighting vehicle initial operational capability inertial measurements units Joint Chiefs of Staff Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff Light Helicopter Experimental Limited Nuclear Option low observability Launch On Warning Mutually Assured Destruction manoeuvrable re-entry vehicle main battle tank missile guidance and control sets military-industrial complex multiple independently targeted re-entry vehicle multiple point system Missile Experimental North Atlantic Treaty Organisation National Command Authorities National Security Advisor National Security Council National Security Decision Document National Security Decision Memorandum Nuclear Strategic Targeting Data Base

xiii

xiv

NTPR NUWEP O&M OMB OMG O&S OSA OSD OT&E PA&E PEO PD PMNSS

PPBS R&D RCS RDS RD;f&E RT SAC SAE SALT SAR SASC SBC SDAS SFRC SGAC SHORAD SICBM SlOP SLBM SLOC SRAM SSBN SSCMS

SSN START TACAIR

Abbreviations and Acronyms

Nuclear Targeting Policy Review Nuclear Weapons Employment Plan operations and maintenance Office of the Management of the Budget Operational Manoeuvre Group operations and support Office of Systems Analysis Office of the Secretary of Defence operational testing and evaluation programme analysis and evaluation Programme Executive Officer Presidential Directive Procurement and Military Nuclear Systems Subcommittee Planning, Programming and Budgeting System research and development radar cross-section Research and Development Subcommittee research, development, test and evaluation relocatable target Strategic Air Command Service Acquisition Executive Strategic Arms Limitation Talks Selected Acquisition Report Senate Armed Services Committee Senate Budget Committee Senate Defence Appropriations Subcommittee Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee Senate Governmental Affairs Committee short-range air defence small intercontinental ballistic missile Single Integrated Operational Plan submarine-launched ballistic missile sea lanes of communication Short Range Attack Missile ballistic missile submarine Seapower and Strategic and Critical Materials Subcommittee nuclear-powered attack submarine Strategic Arms Reduction Talks Tactical Air Forces

T&E TOA TOW TRADOC TWS TY US USD(A) USD(P) USD(R&E)

USN VCJCS VHTs WTO

Abbreviations and Acronyms

test and evaluation total obligational authority tube-launched, optically guided, wire-tracked (missile) Training and Doctrine Command Tactical Warfare Subcommittee Then Year United States Under Secretary of Defence for Acquisition Under Secretary of Defence for Policy Under Secretary of Defence for Research and Engineering United States Navy Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff very hard targets Warsaw Treaty Organisation, also called Warsaw Pact

xv