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The New York Times reports that Indian-American Subrata Ghoshroy, a former investigator with Congress' Government Accountability Office (G.A.O) is blowing the whistle on his own office, as well as the Bush administration's oversight of the contracters involved with the national missile defense shield.
Ghoshroy, a senior Congressional investigator has accused his agency of covering up a scientific fraud among builders of a $26 billion system meant to shield the nation from nuclear attack. The disputed weapon is the centerpiece of the Bush administration's antimissile plan, which is expected to cost more than $250 billion over the next two decades.
Ghoshroy reportedly led technical analyses of a prototype warhead for the antimissile weapon in an 18-month study, winning awards for his "great care" and "tremendous skill and patience."
Ghoshroy now says his agency ignored evidence that the two main contractors had doctored data, skewed test results and made false statements in a 2002 report "Review of Allegations about an Early National Missile Defense Flight Test", that credited the contractors with revealing the warhead's failings to the government.
Ghoshroy made his charges in a recent letter to Rep. Howard L. Berman, D-Calif., who originally requested the GAO study.Berman's office provided his letter to The New York Times, along with dozens of Ghoshroy's documents.Meanwhile, David M. Walker, the head of the GAO, called Ghoshroy "a relatively low-level, disgruntled employee" out of step with his technical peers.
Elsewhere, Ghoshroy has also claimed that he believes NASA may be so overwhelmed that it is unclear if the agency has a true handle on whether safety is better or worse. "When contractors certify everything is good, the government has little choice but to believe it. They don't have the resources to check everything out and that can lead to problems," said Ghoshroy, who directs the space policy program at the Federation of American Scientists.
Despite the self-assurance surrounding the ABL (Air Borne Laser) among Air Force personnel, critics outside the program doubt the effort will pan out. "I'm deeply skeptical about achieving the laser power output required to destroy a missile," says Ghoshroy, who has worked on past military laser projects.
According to Ghoshroy, Northrop Grumman's ground-test success is only partially conclusive; once the laser is in the air, many factors will interfere with the beam quality, including moisture and air turbulence, which the adaptive optics may not be able to sidestep entirely. "There is very little experience in the whole process of building a high-power laser and intercepting a missile with it," Ghoshroy notes.
Others think the laser itself will work but could fail in its prime mission; in other words, that the ABL may be better suited for attacking long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles and satellites than short-range weapons that operate within relatively compact geographic areas.
The Government Accountability Office, (formerly General Accounting Office), the investigative arm of Congress, exists to support Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance and accountability of the federal government for the American people. GAO examines the use of public funds; evaluates federal programs and policies; and provides analyses, recommendations, and other assistance to help Congress make informed oversight, policy, and funding decisions. GAO's commitment to good government is reflected in its core values of accountability, integrity, and reliability.
A research associate with the MIT group since 2005, Subrata Ghoshroy is leading the Promoting Nuclear Stability in South Asia Project. In addition to directing the project, he is focusing on the impact of missile defenses and space weaponization on global security.
Before joining MIT, Mr. Ghoshroy was a Senior Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University. He has also been a Senior Defense Analyst at the Government Accountability Office for a number of years. Subrata also served as a Congressional Fellow under the AAAS program. Later, he served as a staff member of the House International Relations Committee and the House Armed Services Committee where he worked on issues of non-proliferation, arms control, South Asian security, ballistic missile defense, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, nuclear weapons stockpile stewardship, laser weapons, chemical weapons demilitarization, and landmines.
He was also responsible for monitoring and evaluating budget and policy matters related to Military Research and Development (RDT&E) using his expertise to carry out comprehensive evaluations of complex weapons systems that incorporate state-of-the-art technology. Prior to his transition to the policy world, Subrata worked more than 20 years as an engineer and an engineering-manager in developing high-power and high-energy laser, electron beam, and pulse power technologies and has a highly successful track record in managing sophisticated, interdisciplinary teams to develop advanced technology for DOD, DOE, and NASA. He holds master's degrees in both electrical engineering and public policy.
The New York Times reports that Indian-American Subrata Ghoshroy, a former investigator with Congress' Government Accountability Office (G.A.O) is blowing the whistle on his own office, as well as the Bush administration's oversight of the contracters involved with the national missile defense shield.
Ghoshroy, a senior Congressional investigator has accused his agency of covering up a scientific fraud among builders of a $26 billion system meant to shield the nation from nuclear attack. The disputed weapon is the centerpiece of the Bush administration's antimissile plan, which is expected to cost more than $250 billion over the next two decades.
Ghoshroy reportedly led technical analyses of a prototype warhead for the antimissile weapon in an 18-month study, winning awards for his "great care" and "tremendous skill and patience."
Ghoshroy now says his agency ignored evidence that the two main contractors had doctored data, skewed test results and made false statements in a 2002 report "Review of Allegations about an Early National Missile Defense Flight Test", that credited the contractors with revealing the warhead's failings to the government.
Ghoshroy made his charges in a recent letter to Rep. Howard L. Berman, D-Calif., who originally requested the GAO study.Berman's office provided his letter to The New York Times, along with dozens of Ghoshroy's documents.Meanwhile, David M. Walker, the head of the GAO, called Ghoshroy "a relatively low-level, disgruntled employee" out of step with his technical peers.
Elsewhere, Ghoshroy has also claimed that he believes NASA may be so overwhelmed that it is unclear if the agency has a true handle on whether safety is better or worse. "When contractors certify everything is good, the government has little choice but to believe it. They don't have the resources to check everything out and that can lead to problems," said Ghoshroy, who directs the space policy program at the Federation of American Scientists.
Despite the self-assurance surrounding the ABL (Air Borne Laser) among Air Force personnel, critics outside the program doubt the effort will pan out. "I'm deeply skeptical about achieving the laser power output required to destroy a missile," says Ghoshroy, who has worked on past military laser projects.
According to Ghoshroy, Northrop Grumman's ground-test success is only partially conclusive; once the laser is in the air, many factors will interfere with the beam quality, including moisture and air turbulence, which the adaptive optics may not be able to sidestep entirely. "There is very little experience in the whole process of building a high-power laser and intercepting a missile with it," Ghoshroy notes.
Others think the laser itself will work but could fail in its prime mission; in other words, that the ABL may be better suited for attacking long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles and satellites than short-range weapons that operate within relatively compact geographic areas.
The Government Accountability Office, (formerly General Accounting Office), the investigative arm of Congress, exists to support Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance and accountability of the federal government for the American people. GAO examines the use of public funds; evaluates federal programs and policies; and provides analyses, recommendations, and other assistance to help Congress make informed oversight, policy, and funding decisions. GAO's commitment to good government is reflected in its core values of accountability, integrity, and reliability.
A research associate with the MIT group since 2005, Subrata Ghoshroy is leading the Promoting Nuclear Stability in South Asia Project. In addition to directing the project, he is focusing on the impact of missile defenses and space weaponization on global security.
Before joining MIT, Mr. Ghoshroy was a Senior Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University. He has also been a Senior Defense Analyst at the Government Accountability Office for a number of years. Subrata also served as a Congressional Fellow under the AAAS program. Later, he served as a staff member of the House International Relations Committee and the House Armed Services Committee where he worked on issues of non-proliferation, arms control, South Asian security, ballistic missile defense, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, nuclear weapons stockpile stewardship, laser weapons, chemical weapons demilitarization, and landmines.
He was also responsible for monitoring and evaluating budget and policy matters related to Military Research and Development (RDT&E) using his expertise to carry out comprehensive evaluations of complex weapons systems that incorporate state-of-the-art technology. Prior to his transition to the policy world, Subrata worked more than 20 years as an engineer and an engineering-manager in developing high-power and high-energy laser, electron beam, and pulse power technologies and has a highly successful track record in managing sophisticated, interdisciplinary teams to develop advanced technology for DOD, DOE, and NASA. He holds master's degrees in both electrical engineering and public policy.
