REPORT URGES DELAY IN FIGHTER PROGRAM.

Byline: Jim Skeen  Staff Writer

PALMDALE - A week before the Pentagon is expected to announce which contractor will manufacture the joint strike fighter, federal officials released a report saying the project should be delayed because the technology needed to guarantee its success hasn't been developed.

The report released Friday by the General Accounting Office said the program runs the risk of cost increases, schedule delays and compromised performance because the contractor will have to focus on developing technologies even as it is trying to concentrate on production.

``To eliminate one of the major sources of cost and schedule risk, we recommend that the Secretary of Defense delay the start of engineering and manufacturing development until critical technologies are matured to acceptable levels,'' the report said.

In response to the report, the Pentagon said the program is ready to enter into the next phase of development.

In a letter to the GAO, George Schneiter, the Pentagon's director of strategic and tactical systems, said the program has ``extensively matured the critical technologies'' needed to proceed with the aircraft's development.

``The JSF Program Office has implemented a rigorous risk management program that will continue to monitor and address technology risks, as well as other risks, throughout the program's life,'' Schneiter wrote.

The GAO contends none of the critical technologies, including the engine systems, flight control systems, radar systems and manufacturing techniques, is ready to move to the next stage of the program.

The next step is called engineering and manufacturing development, during which the aircraft's design is refined and the initial handful of aircraft are produced for further testing.

The Pentagon conducted its own technology readiness assessment and concluded that the program is ready to move forward.

The Pentagon is expected to announce Nov. 2 whether Boeing or Lockheed Martin will be hired to produce what is being described as the most valuable military aviation contract in history.

With the U.S. and United Kingdom military services planning to buy more than 3,000 of the jets and the potential for an equal number of foreign sales, the production contract could ultimately be worth as much as $750 billion over the lifetime of the program.

Each of the two contractor teams built two technology demonstrator aircraft in Palmdale for the program. The aircraft were flight tested both at Palmdale's Air Force Plant 42 and at nearby Edwards Air Force Base.