Posted on 04/06/2009 10:52:31 AM PDT by jazusamo
In a blow to Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon has decided to purchase to end funding of the F-22 fighter jet.
The decision by Defense Secretary Robert Gates will rouse widespread opposition in Congress and is likely to bog down the 2010 budget approval process, with F-22 supporters maneuvering to secure more money.
The Pentagon will fund four of the radar-evading stealth fighters in the upcoming 2009 emergency war-spending request, but those additional aircraft will do little to keep the production line in Marietta, Ga., open beyond 2011. Lockheed Martin is the main contractor for the F-22, each of which costs about $140 million.
Gates announced the decision at a press conference on the Defense budget on Monday afternoon.
No money will be requested in the fiscal 2010 budget, congressional and industry sources familiar with the budget briefings told The Hill. Gates has been making calls to the chairmen of the congressional defense committees.
The final F-22 of the 183 currently on order will be delivered at the end of 2011. Building another four would keep the line open for only a few months beyond that end date.
Lockheed Martin and its subcontractors, including Boeing, in recent weeks have stepped up their campaign to keep the production line open. They argue that 25,000 people work directly for the 1,000 suppliers of the F-22 in 44 states, and another 70,000 indirectly owe their jobs to this program.
“We have a couple of new airplanes, the F-22 (right here, right now) and F-35 (years from entering service), to replace our older, worn and torn airplanes and to keep anyone from thinking we’d be easily rolled. So, of course, congress cancels the F-22.
Stupid, dangerously naive congress. Why is it when congress screws up everyone feels it but them?”
You forget that while qualifications are required to be even a building custodian, ANY IDIOT can become President, Senator or Congressman.....do.
With such low standards to qualify to become President, Senator or Congressman, small wonder we have the incompetent and corrupt elected officials we do.
The USA must be a truly great nation...to survive its leadership....kind of like a patient with numerous malignant cancers surprising the doctors by not dying as quickly as one would have thought.
We end up with corruption like Pelosi’s where she spends $400,000 of taxpayer funds each month to commute between California and Wash D.C. on a military jet (mere mortals would take a commercial jet, if in the 1st class section).
The US Media being as impartial and unbiased as the Pravda of the old USSR is not helping when Obama does with their approval things that if Bush had done them, the US Media would have been calling for tar&feathers.
And mind numbed voters whose voting smarts are almost on level (but slightly below) of a basket of rocks.
“Wonder who China paid off to vote no...”
Well, don’t forget that China OWNS the Clintons.
And may own a chunk of Obama too via large, illegal campaign contributions via the threat of blackmailing them with exposure of their accepting, if not solicitating, illegal monies....a charge, like that of Obama’s birth, that will never be investigated.
All I’ll say is, the biggest mistake people make is continuing to fight the last war. Either you stay in front technologically or you don’t. The next war won’t be what was planned for. They never are. The better the available tools the better chance there is in adapting them to the new conditions.
What happened to “Yes We Can”?
Remember this quote that many of us had to look at in college durning the Reagan years?
“It will be a great day when our schools get all the money they need and the air force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber.”
Well it appears that the Marxist-in-Chief did.
This is a sad day for those of us who love this country. Maybe we should hold a bake sale for a fighter f-22 at every tea party….
The point I’d make is that one F-22 costs less than the bonuses for AIG employees, but it is a successful investment and its returns pay AFTER the investment.
A billion is the new million...
My father retired here after serving in the USAF for 23+ years and we stayed in the area after living at Hill. I’m still in Clearfield and work at the U of U. Matt
“I just am wowed by the numbers. I remember F14s were around $20 to $30 million back in the day. Of course, I looked recently at how much it cost to build the latest carrier, and it was over $6B. Yikes.”
To give you a reality check, a shiny new F-18 Super Hornet goes for $55 million (I believe that is the incremental cost not counting development). Inflation is an insidious thing.
The F-22 gives far more than double the capability of the Super Hornet. I’d support a carrier F-22 alongside the Air Force versions.
It’s incredibly shortsighted to cancel a multi-decade program like this based on the current short-term situation. 0bama might also want to reflect on exactly _why_ the Russians and Chinese gave up on competing militarily.
“Congress could keep the F22 production line alive by putting it in next years defense bill. It’s has been done many times before when an administration wanted to kill weapon systems.”
GOP 2010! We need a LOT of new seats!
“Our fighters and bombers will all have stealth technology and the STOVAL model that the Marines and Navy will use, gives it Harrier capability to take off and land vertically. I believe the Marine Corps was never even interested in the F-22 and only wanted the F-35.”
The F-35 has mainly frontal stealth, whereas the F-22 is stealthy from all angles. The Raptor has far greater air-to-air capabilities and range, which the Marines don’t need but the Navy could sure use.
The F-22 is intended to be the F-15 to the F-35’s role as the new F-16. We don’t need air superiority fighting the Taliban, but we might well need it against the ChiComs or other modern adversaries. (Hey, if the dollar collapses, all bets are off as to China being our “friend”.)
“Any war against either of these two nuclear powers would immediately devolve into lobbing hundreds of nukes at each other from long range. Lack of F22s would be the least of our problems at that point.”
War against China is quite possible. China has no way to deliver more than a few nuclear weapons to the US, so if war broke out over Taiwan (not under 0bama, but under the next President in four years or more) it would likely stay conventional.
If we have the political will, we can easily keep Taiwan independent unless too many major weapons systems are cut.
Obama want the military to use only manual type writers with carbon free ribbons in order to write nasty letters of objection to our enemies.
(the first letter should go to obama)
“The F-22 is great, but it’s not worth the sticker price and it won’t help us in the War on Terror.”
What War on Terror would that be? Last I heard from this idiotic administration, we’re no longer in one.
There, fixed it. /sigh
This is all Obama, not Gates.
Wasn’t Gates appointed by Bush?
The only people pround displaying obama biden bumper stickers are people who recieve government handouts and hard line leftists.
That reminds me of the cold war political cartoon with the USSR bear by somebody’s bedside saying, “yes we lied about everything, duh.” or something to that effect.
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