The cost of Lockheed Martin Corp.’s new U.S. missile warning satellites has grown by as much as 77 percent and the program is three years behind schedule, according to Air Force documents.
Lockheed’s $2.6 billion development contract has grown by $1.7 billion to $2 billion, and the system’s deployment will be delayed as much as three years to 2009, according to Air Force briefing charts prepared for Pentagon officials and Congress.
The constellation of six satellites is designed to detect the launch of an enemy missile. It’s part of the missile defense President George W. Bush wants to put in place as quickly as possible. Full-scale development started in late 1996.
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“The program has deteriorated in terms of achieving technical performance, cost control and schedule milestones — many of these problems only recently becoming apparent,” said Pentagon acquisition undersecretary Edward `Pete’ Aldridge in a statement to Bloomberg News.
A spokeswoman for Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. in Sunnyvale, California, wasn’t immediately available for comment. The Lockheed Martin-led team includes Northrop Grumman Corp. and Honeywell International Inc.
The satellites being developed in the so-called Space-Based Infrared System-High, or SBIRS-High, program are a more powerful version of the aging Defense Support Program satellites now in use. The charts didn’t disclose why costs have grown; about 60 percent of the work is complete.
(Bloomberg)
