The demise of the Joint Unmanned Combat Air System (J-UCAS) program is another example of why the Pentagon needs to reconsider what it wants from joint development programs, the head of the Navy's strike weapons and unmanned aviation program said April 18.

"We start joint, but we never carry it across the goal line for some reason," Rear Adm. Timothy Heely said. "There are very few joint success stories," he told The DAILY after addressing the Precision Strike Association's conference on asymmetric warfare.

"I'm just looking at history," he said. "We spend a lot of money on pursuing a joint thing, and then we pull out at the last second. It's just wasted money."

The J-UCAS program was a joint effort to develop strike unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) capable of fulfilling both Air Force and Navy requirements. The Pentagon cut funding in fiscal 2007 when the Air Force decided instead to develop aircraft for long-range strike and surveillance with plans for larger payloads and higher speeds. The Navy is going ahead with plans for a stealthy, tactical-range, unmanned combat aircraft capable of operating from aircraft carriers.

Northrop Grumman has been developing the X-47B and Boeing the X-45C for the J-UCAS. Northrop Grumman estimates the Navy's UCAS-N program could include 125 to 150 aircraft. (DAILY, April 6). Carrier demonstrations are expected in 2011, Heely said, with initial operating capability targeted for 2018.

"There is a way to do jointness without sacrifice," said Heely, adding, "I think JSF [Joint Strike Fighter] is probably a good example of that." The key, he said, is joint capability. "If I need X number of weapons to hit a target and 17 of those can be marinized weapons and 94 can be non-marinized weapons, then let's buy it that way. If there's different weapons, let's do it that way rather than continue to take the sacrifices of not getting exactly what you want through jointness."

Earlier, Heely told the Precision Strike Assn. that it was important to remember the war currently being waged, but "we've got to be careful that we don't continue to only fight this war and not look forward."