Gates cites importance of acquisition reform Published Sept. 1, 2009 By Gerry J. Gilmore American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- It is imperative for the nation to get defense acquisition reform right, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Aug. 31 during a visit to Texas to tour the plants of two major defense contractors. Americans are getting value for their tax dollars spent in the defense realm, Secretary Gates said while traveling to Fort Worth, Texas, to tour a Lockheed Martin factory that makes the F-35 Lightening II Joint Strike Fighter. He later visited an L3 Communications plant in Greenville, Texas. Taxpayers "certainly are getting more than their money's worth in terms of their men and women in uniform and the performance that they turn in," Secretary Gates said. But acquisition reform is important to the nation's defense so that servicemembers continue to receive appropriate -- and affordable -- weapons systems and equipment needed to deter threats to the nation, he said. The acquisition process needs to move beyond the situation that developed over the years in which so many capabilities are added to a new platform or system under development that it exceeds budget and cannot be purchased in quantity or simply becomes unaffordable, he said. "We need to get past an era where the platforms become so expensive that we can only buy a small number of them," Secretary Gates said. For example, the high-tech, but costly, B-2 Spirit lists for almost $2 billion each. Rising costs deep-sixed plans to purchase 32 new-generation DDG-1000 destroyers. The Pentagon now will buy just three of the new ships, he said. Such a state of affairs "doesn't help our military capabilities," he said. "So, the key is getting control of this acquisition process." To do that, he said, it's imperative "that programs are being executed according to the budgets that have been established for them, and on the timelines established." With the current tight economy, he said, consensus exists among officials in the Pentagon, Congress and the White House "to try to address some of these acquisition issues that have built up cumulatively over a large number of years." The new F-35 is an all-purpose aircraft that makes financial sense, Secretary Gates said. The F-35 will be used by the Air Force, the Marines Corps and the Navy. Once in production, the F-35's unit price will be at less than half the cost of the F-22 Raptor that's tabbed for exclusive use by the Air Force. Defense Department officials are slated to purchase 187 F-22s, which Secretary Gates called "a great airplane." But finite defense resources compelled the Pentagon to favor the F-35, he said.