We know that Cunningham would not try to move his own mother’s bill through congress unless there was graft in it for him.
So, What did Duncan Hunter get from DuPont Aerospace?
Cunningham helped Hunter push for locally made jet
Congress reviewing funding for plane Pentagon rejected
By Dean Calbreath
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERJune 16, 2007
Four months after Randy “Duke” Cunningham entered Congress in 1991, he joined with Rep. Duncan Hunter to urge the Pentagon to buy an aircraft that became the focus of a congressional investigation this week.
The DP-2 Vectored Thrust Aircraft, developed by duPont Aerospace in La Jolla, received $63 million in congressional funding despite repeated Pentagon studies that criticized the vehicle as being unsafe and unworkable.
After 20 years of testing, the aircraft has never flown and has never received a positive review from the military, prompting an investigation by the House Science and Technology Committee.
Funding for the aircraft was spearheaded by Hunter, R-Alpine, and former Rep. Christopher Cox, who now leads the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In 1990, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, issued a scathing report on the DP-2. DARPA found that the jet had poor stability and serious safety issues. Among other things, the jet’s engines created dust storms that could erode visibility; its long-range fueling system was “unadvisable”; and its stealth capabilities – which Hunter cited as a major reason for supporting the project – made it only “marginally more survivable” than other aircraft.
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