The Pentagon is planning deep reductions in spending on the costliest fighter jet ever built.
http://www.f-22raptor.com/
The Pentagon is planning deep reductions in spending on the costliest fighter jet ever built. Costreductions are inevitible amid rising spending on the Iraq war, U.S. defense officials said on Wednesday.
The fast, agile, stealthy Raptor is slated to replace the aging F-15 Eagle, which was first made three decades ago, as the front-line U.S. fighter jet starting in 2005.
Proponents view the F/A-22 as vital for maintaining U.S. air superiority in future conflicts, but its costs have escalated and some Pentagon officials have questioned how much the aircraft is needed as American forces confront low-tech enemies in Iraq and elsewhere.
The White House has asked federal departments to shrink requests for spending in the next fiscal year, at the same time costs of the 21-month-old Iraq war have been mounting.
Defense officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Pentagon has informed officials at the White House as well as Congress that the Pentagon intended to scale back spending on the F/A-22, but did not give a precise amount.
The decision comes to light in the aftermath of the Dec. 20 crash of one of the 29 Raptors already delivered to the Air Force. The F/A-22 crashed on takeoff at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, and the pilot ejected safely.
The Air Force has launched two separate investigations into the crash and has ceased flights of the remaining 28 F/A-22s for the time being in a precautionary "safety stand-down," said Doug Karas, an Air Force spokesman at the Pentagon.
"I don´t have an estimate as to when they´re going to go back in the air," Karas added.
About $40 billion has been spent on the F/A-22 program to date. The Air Force put the current cost per plane at $256.8 million with developmental expenses factored in, and $133.3 million with those expenses excluded.
Convergence of factors
"What´s really happening here is that the cost of the Iraq war and the need to trim budget deficits are converging with a long-standing desire among some of (Defense Secretary Donald) Rumsfeld´s advisers to cut back conventional weapons programs," said defense analyst Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute think tank.
The Air Force had planned to purchase 277 F/A-22s. Thompson said the Pentagon may close out the production program at about 160 planes at the end of the decade.
"I think there are two challenges the Raptor faces. First of all, as the size of the production run has been cut back, the cost of each individual aircraft has gone up to the point where it has become controversial," Thompson said. "Secondly, threats have changed in a way that has led some policymakers to believe that air superiority is not as important as it used to be."
Tom Jurkowsky, a spokesman for giant defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. , the F/A-22´s manufacturer, said, "We have not been informed of any changes to the status of the program by either the Air Force or the Department of Defense."
Under Rumsfeld, the Pentagon has canceled big-ticket weapons such as the Comanche armed reconnaissance helicopter this past February and the Crusader self-propelled howitzer in 2002, and there has been a lag in the Navy´s ship-building program.
Thompson said the Navy is looking at cutting the size of its aircraft carrier fleet by a quarter and its submarine fleet by a third.
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It looks like the war in Iraq is taking its toll on the F/A 22 program, as is the mounting U.S deficit, still 160 Raptors are more then enough!!
http://www.f-22raptor.com/
The Pentagon is planning deep reductions in spending on the costliest fighter jet ever built. Costreductions are inevitible amid rising spending on the Iraq war, U.S. defense officials said on Wednesday.
The fast, agile, stealthy Raptor is slated to replace the aging F-15 Eagle, which was first made three decades ago, as the front-line U.S. fighter jet starting in 2005.
Proponents view the F/A-22 as vital for maintaining U.S. air superiority in future conflicts, but its costs have escalated and some Pentagon officials have questioned how much the aircraft is needed as American forces confront low-tech enemies in Iraq and elsewhere.
The White House has asked federal departments to shrink requests for spending in the next fiscal year, at the same time costs of the 21-month-old Iraq war have been mounting.
Defense officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Pentagon has informed officials at the White House as well as Congress that the Pentagon intended to scale back spending on the F/A-22, but did not give a precise amount.
The decision comes to light in the aftermath of the Dec. 20 crash of one of the 29 Raptors already delivered to the Air Force. The F/A-22 crashed on takeoff at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, and the pilot ejected safely.
The Air Force has launched two separate investigations into the crash and has ceased flights of the remaining 28 F/A-22s for the time being in a precautionary "safety stand-down," said Doug Karas, an Air Force spokesman at the Pentagon.
"I don´t have an estimate as to when they´re going to go back in the air," Karas added.
About $40 billion has been spent on the F/A-22 program to date. The Air Force put the current cost per plane at $256.8 million with developmental expenses factored in, and $133.3 million with those expenses excluded.
Convergence of factors
"What´s really happening here is that the cost of the Iraq war and the need to trim budget deficits are converging with a long-standing desire among some of (Defense Secretary Donald) Rumsfeld´s advisers to cut back conventional weapons programs," said defense analyst Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute think tank.
The Air Force had planned to purchase 277 F/A-22s. Thompson said the Pentagon may close out the production program at about 160 planes at the end of the decade.
"I think there are two challenges the Raptor faces. First of all, as the size of the production run has been cut back, the cost of each individual aircraft has gone up to the point where it has become controversial," Thompson said. "Secondly, threats have changed in a way that has led some policymakers to believe that air superiority is not as important as it used to be."
Tom Jurkowsky, a spokesman for giant defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. , the F/A-22´s manufacturer, said, "We have not been informed of any changes to the status of the program by either the Air Force or the Department of Defense."
Under Rumsfeld, the Pentagon has canceled big-ticket weapons such as the Comanche armed reconnaissance helicopter this past February and the Crusader self-propelled howitzer in 2002, and there has been a lag in the Navy´s ship-building program.
Thompson said the Navy is looking at cutting the size of its aircraft carrier fleet by a quarter and its submarine fleet by a third.
_________________________________________________________________
It looks like the war in Iraq is taking its toll on the F/A 22 program, as is the mounting U.S deficit, still 160 Raptors are more then enough!!