Government spent $86 million for a plane that hasn't flown

Yep, that sounds about right for our government. Like little spoiled kids that just must have a certain toy and once they get it, they don't even play with it. Makes me sick when I can think of so many things that 86 million could have gone towards. Then again if they hadn't of spent it on the plane I'm sure it would have just lined the house or senates pockets somehow.

I'm really getting concerned for my country. Then again I did read today that soda sales have gone way down, so maybe, just maybe, people are starting to pay attention.

Anyhow, snippets from the article: ( new bug isn't letting me post it properly so I will quote it myself).

"A high-tech drug surveillance plane purchased by the Drug Enforcement Administration for $8.6 million in 2008 and upgraded by the Defense Department was designed to gather intelligence for counter-narcotics operations in Afghanistan. But it will never be able to fulfill its intended mission, according to a new report from the Justice Department’s Inspector General."

"Two reasons the effort to revamp the ATR 500 aircraft failed, part of DEA’s Global Discovery Program to fly in an active combat zone, are that the agency missed every single deadline over seven years and squandered the allotted budget."

Imagine that, they missed the deadline because they "Squandered the Allotted Budget." This is only a piece of the article. Read the link below to see just how much more they screwed up and how much it cost us, the taxpayers. I don't think you'll be very happy at all, and like little kids, they tried to blame it all on someone else.

LINK - www.msn.com...

a reply to: onehuman

We've been told we've paid for airports never used ...it't simple logic to put unused planes there, right?

When will WE stop being fleeced?

a reply to: onehuman

Headline says $86 million and article says $8.6 million.

Which one is it?

I think it was Smedley Butler who correctly commented that war is a racket.

a reply to: rockintitz

Both. They spent $8.6M on parts specific for the ATR-500, plus the cost of the airframe and upgrades, storage and maintenance fees, along with the hangar in Afghanistan.

What company was it purchased from? Who got the money? I didn't see anything about that in the article. I would be curious as to who received my tax dollars.

They spent $22M on the airframe itself, $65M in upgrades and maintenance, $6M in repairs after the upgrades, $1.9M for a hangar in Kandahar.

Pretty damming report.

• The DEA did not fully comply with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and its own solicitation in purchasing the aircraft. Specifically, we found that the DEA did not ensure that legitimate needs were identified and trade-offs evaluated, as required by the FAR, to ensure that the aircraft being purchased met operational needs in the most cost-effective manner. As a result, the Aviation Division did not take into account, when purchasing the ATR 500, the time and cost it would incur to establish an infrastructure of pilots, mechanics, trainers, and spare parts required to operate the aircraft compared to the cost of leveraging its existent fleet infrastructure.

• The DEA also failed to evaluate, as required by the FAR, each bid received on all the factors it listed in its solicitation. Therefore, the DEA ultimately awarded a contract for the purchase of an aircraft that cost $3 million more than it had estimated, even though that aircraft potentially did not best meet the DEA’s technical needs and performance requirements.

www.defense-aerospace.com...

This is just a grain of sand in the vast beach of government overspending. It's time we treat these career spenditians like our employees and hold them accountable.

a reply to: Zaphod58

WAh the DEA spent almost 100 million in tax moneys on a toy that doesn't work. The war on drugs is a bottomless pit that costs us more than simply letting people make their own choices about what they ingest.

What is the Global Discovery Project? Who owns Summit Aviation?

Summit Airport, owned by Summit Aviation, is a high-security Department of Defense-approved contractor facility. The audit found DOD paid Summit and other companies $1.4 million in funding intended for aviation operations in Afghanistan on maintenance for the plane.

Work on the aircraft was a joint effort between the U.S. Departments of Defense and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency as part of the Global Discovery program, which intended to equip the plane with advanced surveillance capabilities for counter-narcotics missions. The DEA ended its aviation mission in Afghanistan last year.

"Moreover, despite the DEA’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, as of March 2016, the DOD continued to spend appropriated funds in an effort to make the aircraft operational and flyable," the audit said. "The DEA has purchased approximately $8.5 million in parts for the ATR 500 that it cannot utilize until the modifications are complete and the aircraft has been made flyable. The expected completion date for the Global Discovery project is now June 2016."

So who are the vendors that have gotten all this money?

Whose pockets have been lined with this "project" as the excuse?

a reply to: queenofswords

Summit Aviation does a lot of government work. They're set up to handle private, corporate, and government work.

Summit Aviation is a full-service aviation center with domestic and international capabilities. In 2008, Summit Aviation was acquired by Greenwich AeroGroup, a nationwide network of companies that offer general, commercial and military aircraft services.

Summit Aviation is authorized to perform inspection, maintenance, repair and
modifications to airframes, engines and avionics systems.

summit-aviation.com...

There are a lot of private companies that do similar work, there are even some that fly fighters against our military aircraft to help them with training.

The Global Discovery Program was designed as a joint DEA/Pentagon program to fight drug smuggling.

Not everything lines someone's pocket, sometimes incompetent idiots really are just incompetent idiots that couldn't manage their way out of a wet paper bag.

Just a heads up, but you should take stories like this with a grain of salt. A lot of the instances of "government waste" are actually accounting tricks so they can funnel money elsewhere (including into their own pockets).

For example, suppose an agency "spends" $100 for a pen. That's what the invoice will say. But in reality, the pen may cost $20 and the other $80 may be divided between kickbacks, bribes, and side deals. Other times, a company is really just a "front company" that's being used to funnel money to unofficial programs or "assets". But if the public ever hears about the increasingly large contracts they get, they'll blame it on "inefficient bureaucrats wasting taxpayer funds" instead of "a proven & well funded way to finance undeclared programs and causes".

In other words, these types of deals are where the official world, unofficial world, and underworld mix. And it's not like the public cares enough about politics or government agencies to look into this stuff. And the constant push to weaken regulations and defund regulatory agencies decreases the chance that these contracts will be scrutinized or investigated. Oh yeah, and politicians, businessmen, and bureaucrats have convinced most of the public that they're too stupid to do this stuff, much less be held accountable for it.

originally posted by: queenofswords
What company was it purchased from? Who got the money? I didn't see anything about that in the article. I would be curious as to who received my tax dollars.

Considering the secrecy surrounding most government operations, likely you would not be able to find an answer to your question, because it's somehow classified. Hidden away in some classified "off budget" way.

Good grief, we cannot even audit our own military, the Pentagon. Ike was quite right--half a century after he warned us, the tail is definitely wagging the dog.

a reply to: Salander

Is there an Inspector General for the Department of Defense?

Does Obama appoint idiots in these positions? Who is the IG or do we have yet another "acting" IG?

a reply to: onehuman

Government spent $86 million for a plane that hasn't flown


I have a wonderful design of a beautiful plane that I will personally guarantee will absolutely not fly for half that price..!!

Any government can PM me for contact info...

a reply to: queenofswords

I suppose there is an IG for the DoD, but I'm not certain.

Obama is but a puppet in an elaborate ruse. He does what he is told for the most part.