The Defense Industry's Secret Weapon

How a top Pentagon official—and former Raytheon lobbyist—is undermining vital reform at the DOD.

—By Winslow T. Wheeler and Pierre M. Sprey

Mon August 24, 2009 4:00 AM PST

In July, to great fanfare, the Obama administration finally killed the F-22 fighter jet—an underperforming, overpriced Cold War relic that has never flown a combat mission over Iraq or Afghanistan. But all the breathless talk of Defense Secretary Robert Gates' "sweeping reforms" obscures an unpleasant truth. While the rare defeat of congressional porkmongers offers a ray of hope, real reform will require a far more ambitious, persistent effort. And standing in the way is the Pentagon's No. 2 civilian official—handpicked by Gates and coming directly from a lobbying job for the giant defense contractor Raytheon.