WASHINGTON – The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee
assailed Pentagon officials on Wednesday for relying on Russian rocket engines to launch American military satellites into space, arguing that the practice enriches friends of President Vladimir Putin and puts U.S. national security in jeopardy."Today Russia holds many of our most precious national security satellites at risk before they ever get off the ground," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said at a hearing to examine military space launch capabilities.Yet McCain said the Pentagon has actively sought to undermine the committee's direction to limit that risk and end the use of the Russian RD-180 engines by the end of this decade. McCain also blamed the U.S. contractor that acquires the engines, United Launch Alliance, and two senators who support the company, Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., for thwarting the committee's instructions.
Air Force Secretary Deborah James told the committee the department is working to end the use of the Russian engines as soon as possible. She said disengaging from use of the Russian engines is far more complicated than it appears. She recommended a stockpile of 18 of the RD-180s until an American-made rocket can be tested and fielded.
McCain and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., are introducing legislation Thursday to repeal a provision in law that they say allows the unlimited acquisition and use of RD-180 engines, which are manufactured by NPO Energomash. The manufacturer is owned primarily by the Russian government and controlled by several of Putin's confidants, according to the lawmakers.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/01/27/sen-mccain-assails-pentagon-for-relying-on-russian-rockets.html?intcmp=hpbt3