ARMY EYES BIG COST CUTS FOR ADVANCED PATRIOT MISSILES

Struggling to bring the cost of the Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC-3) interceptor down, Army officials believe they have a multi-step process that could cut the cost of each missile by more than half.

Although short on detail, Brig. Gen. John M. Urias, who oversees the Patriot program, claimed the cost of each interceptor could be brought down to $2 million from about $5 million that each missile currently costs. Pentagon officials, primarily leaders of the Ballistic Missile Defense Office, have pushed for cost cutting so the Defense Dept. can afford to buy more than just a limited number of the ballistic missile interceptors. Urias said the money saved will free up funds to buy at least 500 more missiles.

Cost reduction efforts center on manufacturing initiatives associated with both the missile and ground system. The Army hopes to have an initial PAC-3 capability fielded next year. Meanwhile, the service has replaced all its faulty PAC-2 missiles that were forward deployed with the upgraded guidance enhancement missiles. It is still undergoing fault analysis on the missiles that were recently removed from operational use when hardware flaws were detected during testing.

Robert Wall, AviationNow.Com, 02.05.2000