John Young Is Trying to Implement Defense Spending Reform NOW

While there is a lot of talk about changes the new administration will make, it's important to note that there are some positive changes happening now, largely due to John Young, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics.>> When he first came into office, he sensibly advocated competitive prototyping to reduce technical risk and procuring systems based on immature technology. We've recently praised him on our blog for criticizing the Navy's LPD-17 San Antonio, and in the press for refusing to be bullied by Lockheed Martin threatening to charge taxpayers $147 million for stopping F-22 production--a tactic Lockheed has had success with before to prevent the cancellation of the C-130J.>> Now Young is really irking the defense industry by questioning the "desperate" need for the Air Force's Combat Search and Rescue helicopter, the CSAR-X--a program that we have raised concerns about. From Inside Defense (subscription service):>> We have a lot of assets that can be used in rescue missions with planning, so I don't necessarily just automatically rubber-stamp the CSAR-X mission requirement, [Young] said during a Nov. 20 breakfast with reporters.>> These days, everyone is looking for places to cut costs, and if Young is right that this is not an urgently needed program, delaying or cancelling this $15 billion search-and-rescue helicopter contract may be something to seriously consider.>> But, of course, the problem is much larger than a few programs. Inside Defense reported that Young pointed to Darleen Druyun, the Air Force's former chief acquisitions official sentenced to jail in 2004 for her overly cozy relationship with industry, as creating a culture where "people became culturally attuned to the [fact] that the Air Force practice is to evaluate proposals, but not provide judgments and recommendations about proposals.