Page "Robert McNamara" Paragraph 30

One major hallmark of McNamara's cost reductions was the consolidation of programs from different services, most visibly in aircraft acquisition, believing that the redundancy created waste and unnecessary spending.

McNamara directed the Air Force to adopt the Navy's F-4 Phantom and A-7 Corsair combat aircraft, a consolidation that was quite successful.

Conversely, his actions in mandating a premature across-the-board adoption of the untested M16 rifle proved catastrophic when the weapons began to fail in combat.

McNamara tried to extend his success by merging development programs as well, resulting in the TFX dual service F-111 project.

It was to combine Navy requirements for an air superiority fighter and Air Force requirements for a tactical bomber.

His experience in the corporate world led him to believe that adopting a single type for different missions and service would save money.

He insisted on the General Dynamics entry over the DOD's preference for Boeing because of commonality issues.

Though heralded as a fighter that could do everything ( fast supersonic dash, slow carrier and short airfield landings, tactical strike, and even close air support ), in the end it involved too many compromises to succeed at any of them.

The Navy version was drastically overweight and difficult to land, and eventually canceled after a Grumman study showed it was incapable of matching the abilities of the newly revealed Soviet MiG-23 and MiG-25 aircraft.

The F-111 would eventually find its niche as a tactical bomber and electronic warfare aircraft with the Air Force.