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.
Are you serious?! The F-35 is going to be cut too?! Not too surprised, quite frankly, but this is not good for my job prospects. Oversaturating the market with fat old AE’s. Oh god. I think you guys’ blame should be placed on Gates more than Obama, though.
Very good point. I saw that in last night’s pre-release and blew a fuse over Sen. Chambliss basing his argument on jobs alone.
It is disastrous that we could be forfeiting our air and naval superiority for Obambi and his socialist programs. There are just too many in our country looking for the free handout and don’t believe our freedom comes at a price.
believe me I have insight on the Russians and they do have a military which can still function and they are building up their military right now.
No I was involved with intel so when you say Russia and China are not a threat and that Russia does not have their air power then you are way wrong .
I’ve worked with them , seen how they work and believe me they are still a threat
they are building their military right now and you think we should not keep up
Now sure if you are all serious in your posts but I will however read your past history to see
No I was involved with intel so when you say Russia and China are not a threat and that Russia does not have their air power then you are way wrong .
I’ve worked with them , seen how they work and believe me they are still a threat
they are building their military right now and you think we should not keep up
Now sure if you are all serious in your posts but I will however read your past history to see
Hugs. This effects my future husband’s income, drastically. We’re just the little people. I’m self sufficient, but what about his kids, and his sister who is in a nursing home cerebrial palsy whom he supports. And his other sister and her family... .
None of whom are on welfare, none of whom are on the government’s dole.
I may be a year or so off on when production will be ready. I apologize for not having all the facts. Most of what I read about the F-35 was last year and I’m going off my memory here. I’m just very wary of any defense project when it’s biggest defense is that there are a lot of jobs at stake. You might be right, but I’m going to hold my powder until I read more about this. There have been many times in the past when weapons systems have been forced on services for bad reasons. Remember the Sgt York? If not, read about stupid weapons systems that we should have never spent a dime on.
To you civilians, we in the military (I’m retired now) know that the U.S. Air Force generally performs very poorly in joint operations. It’s not that the Air Force isn’t good flying airplanes all by themselves in the desert, it’s that they nevery communicate well with the other branches.
It’s not classified, but in the mid-1990’s while enforcing the “No Fly” zone in Iraq and Air Force F-16 shot down two Army helicopters carrying 22 of our men. No one cares? The AF guys just say “Shit Happens” and flies on? That’s how it seemed to go down.
My question is? Can’t the idiot pilots in the Air Force operate their IFF buttons? Are they than unconcerned about the other services?
I also remember watching a replay of footage shot from an AF cockpit during Gulf War One where an AF hotshot blasted an Army transport vehicle and then, after the fact, said “Uh oh, I sure hope that wasn’t one of our own.”
All, repeat I say ALL, of the flying duties handled by the U.S. Navy, which flies at least as many hours as the Air Force. The Air Force personnel are routinely getting soldiers killed by friendly fire because they just aren’t interested in the other services and they don’t want to be.
That’s why I said the Air Force should be limited to testing new aircraft in the desert where they won’t hurt American soldiers.
Got it now?
You tell that to the ground grunts who have come under air attacks because we lost air superiority in some future war.
We’ll never lose air superiority.
A lot of that R&D effort went a long way towards helping get the F-35 Lightning into the air in a rather short time span. By this, I mean the conventional version of the F-35, not the carrier or jump-jet variants.
What the heck is defeatist about being realistic about the likelihood that a full scale military confrontation of two massive nuclear powers would rapidly escalate into a full-blown nuclear war? Do you really think that the Chinese leaders are sane enough to withhold their most potent weapons at the very moment they're going down to defeat? They would have nothing to lose, since they would be dead or defeated either way.
What's really simple minded is the belief that full scale war between nuclear powers could ever be conducted with some medieval-style code of honor or enlightened self-interest that would keep nuclear weapons from the battlefield.
just read this posters past posts since he just joined and my word, he talks about that WW 2 was wrong and gained nothing, that the he describes the show thrower is the poor shoe thrower who got 3 years jail for it
Amen to that and we sure as heck better have a new president then!
Oh, ok. /sarc
Remotely piloted and auto piloted are wonderful weapons systems. They are cheap, precise and they do not put a friendly human at risk. Their problem is .....
They rely upon satellites. Satellites that may suddenly disappear in a real shooting war. Of course the F-22, B-2 and all those smart bombs also rely upon satellites.
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