Posted on 03/08/2008 11:39:55 AM PST by jazusamo
Oregon Air National Guard officials are mounting a vigorous campaign to bring a squadron of the military's latest -- and most expensive -- fighter planes to Oregon to help patrol the West Coast.
Guard staff on Friday unveiled a cockpit demonstrator for the F-22 Raptor at the Portland Air National Guard Base, one of a series of moves to show military officials that Oregon wants to beef up its patrol capabilities.
Col. John Kent, commander of the Guard's 142nd Fighter Wing, said the F-22s are "critical to us pursuing our mission" of protecting the Pacific Coast.
"My job is to make sure that our people get the best equipment in order for them to do their jobs," Kent said.
Air Force officials want to replace the current fighter plane -- the F-15 -- with the F-22. The F-15 has long been the fighter workhorse for the Air Force but officials say it's getting old.
The F-15s, which cost about $30 million each, have faced heavy scrutiny after one of the planes broke apart in midair during a simulated dogfight over Missouri in November. The military grounded nearly 700 F-15s, tracing the problem to structural cracks in a piece of equipment known as a longeron.
The longeron is where the wings meet the fuselage behind the cockpit.
Roughly 240 of the newer models of the F-15 returned to the air shortly afterward, but Air Force brass grounded about 440 older planes for inspection.
In Oregon, there are 45 F-15s: 20 at the Air National Guard Base in Portland and 25 with the 173rd Fighter Wing at Kingsley Field in Klamath Falls. The 20 Portland F-15s have all returned to service. In Klamath Falls, 23 of the planes are flying again, while two are being inspected and repaired.
Roughly 160 of the F-15s in the Air Force nationwide have been found to have defects and will remain grounded until they can be repaired. Six will be scrapped because they have too much damage.
Kent says the damaged planes are a signal that it's time to make some changes in equipment.
"We have an F-15 that's getting a lot older," Kent said. "We don't have a follow-on plane that will help us carry out our mission like the F-22 would. My job is to get our personnel the equipment they need to protect this coast."
He added that he and other fighter wing commanders in California, Florida and Massachusetts are working to convince high-ranking Air Force officials and members of congress that the "four corners" of the United States could use the F-22s.
Under that plan, 96 of the F-22s would be divided among the four states.
"People are using the language about the four corners, so that's good for us" in Oregon, Kent said. "We've been working hard over the last eight to 10 months to convince everyone that this is worthwhile."
The F-22 is considered the world's most advanced fighter aircraft. Designers pride themselves on the plane's combination of stealth, maneuverability and integrated avionics. A combination of sensor capability, situational awareness and weapons gives the plane a distinct advantage over enemies.
Although Friday's showing of the cockpit demonstrator was designed to put Oregon front and center in the debate for which states will get the F-22, there is still an issue with the cost.
Each plane costs roughly $160 million, and the price tag already has created a stir among politicians. The Air Force originally requested 381 F-22s to be built, but budget restrictions have limited the purchase to 183.
Ping!
we need the money for the undocumented-guest-workers-who-need-amnesty-relocation-to-america program. sorry no F-22s
Heaven knows I'm all for a strong military but why in the world do we need a squadron of quarter billion dollar fighter jets to patrol the skies over Oregon.
At the cost of the F-22’s I don’t believe it’ll happen anytime soon. However it’s not just OR, it’s the whole country. The Air Guard has the task of protecting the skies for the country, basically the East and West coasts.
Yes,
I agree completely. And I am as pro defense as it gets. I do not think we need the top of the line fighter to patrol the skys of Oregon. OVERKILL it seems to me but I willing to listen to counter agruments.
Theres a place for f-15 and f-22... and A-10’s as well.. the f-22 could make the air safe.. for the f-22.. After air superiority.. you could use bi-planes(crop dusters) for strafing and bombing..
That might not be such a wild idea. The F-15 unit in Missouri that had that F-15 break apart in mid-air is actually doing a change-over to the B-2 bomber...
- National guard units are aften called to duty far away, in places like Iraq.
- Having the same platform as the airforce requires less diverse skills/parts for maintenance and training.
- The F-15s could still be sold to another friendly country.
Yeah I know. They want 96 planes divided by 4 states. That's 24 planes on average for 50 states. 1200 jets at an incremental cost of $160 million per copy. YIKES!! Thats nearly $ 4 billion per state for fighter cover. Add it up and it's nearly one quarter of a trillion dollars worth of fighters for the Air Guard. That just makes my heed spin!
It will eventually have to be done because of the age of the F-15’s. On this recent grounding of them the pilots were right at the point they were going to have to be recertified before they could start flying them again and that’s a fairly lengthly process.
Still, I believe it’s going to be a while because of the costs.
To save us the from the liberals and muslim population in Portland.
During the Cold War, the ANG squadrons reaped the benefit of rapid aircraft development and the fact that the Air Force wasn't hobbled in its constant upgrading of the active-duty units' hardware. However, the Guardsman always had aircraft that were a generation behind whatever was state-of-the art.
It seems like a newer variant of the F-15 would be a more appropriate replacement. ANG pilots are more likely to be called upon after the initial shots have been fired, so a multi-mission aircraft such as the F-15E (or later "export" variants) would be a wiser choice.
But I don't blame 'em for asking for the F-22s. :-)
The $200,000,000 F-22: just what we need to re-win World War II.
Airplanes don't get much cooler
This article is also vague about where the F-22s are going to come from. Are they new planes, or are they asking to be reallocated from the original order into the guard units? If they are extra orders, they could also end up bringing down the per unit cost of the plane. If they are asking to be reallocated, I don’t see them being used as effectively as if they were given to the Air Force.
Yes, they don’t say and I haven’t read anywhere else what their plan is. They’ve been talking this up ever since the F-15 in Missouri came apart.
I can’t believe the Air Force would go for a reallocation, especially after the original numbers were cut back.
Old Air Defense Command used F106 delta darts as they were FAST to get off the ground and in a position to intercept. I think anyone with a Air Defense mission be they active or guard have the best we can afford. F-15 fills that role fine. F-22 would only be better than best IMO.
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