Posted on 09/11/2012 12:13:21 PM PDT by InsidiousMongo
Romney wants to buy more F-22s
By Michael Hoffman Monday, September 10th, 2012 5:54 pm Posted in Air, Election
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Saturday he would buy more F-22 Raptors as part of his plan to reverse many of the defense cuts planned by the Obama administration.
Romney told a Virginia Beach, Va., television station he would not include the military in the spending cuts he is proposing to cut down the U.S. deficit.
Rather than completing nine ships per year, Id move that up to 15. Id also add F-22s to our Air Force fleet. And Id add about 100,000 active duty personnel to our military team, Romney said in the interview. I think the idea of shrinking our military to try and get closer to balancing our budget is the wrong place to look.
Hes repeated his plan to increase ship building from nine to 15 ships per year and add 100,000 active duty troops to the militarys end strength. However, this is the first time hes mentioned any plans to buy more F-22s.
F-22 production was famously ended by former Defense Secretary Robert Gates after the Air Force had fought for the U.S. to buy more fifth generation fighter jets. Air Force leaders wanted to buy 243 F-22s, Gates halted production at 187. Originally, the Air Force wanted to buy more than 750 Raptors.
The last U.S. F-22 rolled off the production line in 2011. The Raptor program has since come under scrutiny after a string of pilots have suffered hypoxia-like symptoms and struggled to breathe in flight. Air Force officials claim to have found the cause, but it has repeatedly grounded the F-22 fleet the past two years and continue to impose flight restrictions.
Air Force leaders pushed to build more F-22s to add to the fleet because they warned a fleet of 187 would be insufficient to defeat an enemy with a top line air force like China. Former Air Force Chief of Staffs Gen. Norton Schwartz and Gen. Michael Buzz Moseley argued the costs of re-opening the production line would be too costly to build up the fleet if Congress changed its mind and wanted more F-22s.
If Romney wins and follows through on his plan to buy more F-22s, it would cost at least $900 million to reopen the F-22 production line, according to Loren Thompson, a consultant for Lockheed Martin and other defense companies.
In 2010, Japan discussed buying 40 F-22s from Lockheed Martin, builder of the F-22. Lockheed officials then told Japanese leaders it would cost $900 million to re-open the production line. Thompson said the cost would surely increase when considering two years have passed and the production line was still semi-warm.
The cost to reopen the production line would come in addition to the per aircraft price tag to manufacture each jet. That per aircraft cost is harder to decipher. When factoring in development and manufacturing, the price tag per jet totaled the U.S. more than $370 million. However, the flyaway cost the cost of manufacturing one jet equaled $137 million per jet.
Re-opening the production line in Marietta, Ga., would take at least two years, Thompson said. Lockheed would be slowed by re-establishing supplier networks and re-training employees.
In a rush, you could do it in about two years assuming all the other workers werent on other projects like F-35, Thompson said.
He didnt expect the problems with the F-22s oxygen system to hold a Romney administration back from following through on buying more F-22 plans.
It wouldnt be a problem, Thompson said. If there are still issues with the oxgen system they could just switch over to another supplier like Cobham.
There are also questions about whether further F-22 buys would affect the acquisition schedule for the F-35. The Defense Department plans to buy 2,443 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters.
“When I read stuff like this, I know that Republicans arent serious about shrinking government. Lets see, lets undertake the expense of putting an overpriced plane back into production, likely with a much higher flyway price than it already had. Lets add more planes to USAFs fleet that cost 40 grand an hour to fly. THATLL help the deficit.”
MEGABUMP
900 mil, what’s that? about one solyndra plant or a couple of dozen chevy volts?
A. I did not say that we aren't in an economic war with China. I did say that the Chinese constitute an enormous strategic threat. China's economic policies are one part of the total strategic threat, but one that I chose not to address on a thread about military hardware. That said, it is suspicious that you absolutely preclude the possibility of military conflict with China. Our Pacific allies have no such illusions.
B. The proper use of the nuclear arsenal is deterrence not combat. I find it suspicious that you consider the 1980s-era technology of the F22 to be hopelessly outdated and yet believe that our 1980s-era nuclear arsenal retains full deterrent value. It is a hollow force, and increasingly vulnerable. Over half of our warheads (and all or our multiple-warhead missiles) are concentrated in 14 1980s-era submarines. Much of this force could be neutralized before launch by conventional and asymmetrical means. It's not deterring China or Russia much now, and a decade from now it won't deter them at all.
C. Finally, what are you suggesting? Disbelieve in the military threat and do what? Cue the Ron Paul talking points?
BINGO.
Considering the F-22 is the best plane on the planet, it is inexcusable we have stopped producing it.
Sorry, not buying.
I agree with the need for overseas bases for logistics and forward support. I’ve been to many of them in Germany and Korea, but not Japan. Given the extensive list of installations in those countries, only a few of each should be needed to achieve the goals you mention.
I do believe that each of the three countries I mentioned would spend more on defense if we weren’t there. That gives them latitude to spend on social and other programs.
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