Here's an economic stimulus that I favor: Buying more F-22 fighters. The Obama administration, including Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, is less enthusiastic.But the Air Force's top general wants more F-22s:
The U.S. Air Force has concluded it needs more Lockheed Martin Corp F-22 Raptor fighter jets than have been ordered so far, but fewer than it previously sought, the service's top uniformed officer said on Tuesday.
Gen. Norton Schwartz, Air Force chief of staff, said he would not dispute a characterization that over the coming three years the service was seeking to add 60 of the premier fighter jets to the 183 now on order, for a total of 243.
The revised request would be for a fleet totaling fewer than 381 Raptors, the previous Air Force goal, Schwartz told reporters, without disclosing the new number.
In a UPI op-ed, Loren B. Thompson, the chief executive officer of the Lexington Institute, explains the importance of having more F-22s in our defense arsenal:
Sometime in the next dozen days, President Barack Obama will make his first big decision about America 's future military capabilities. The fiscal 2009 National Defense Authorization Act requires the president to tell Congress by March 1 whether the nation's interest is best served by purchasing more F-22 fighters or ceasing production. If he decides to end the program, contractor Lockheed Martin will begin laying off workers almost immediately, as will dozens of suppliers. The Air Force will have to make do with the 183 planes it already has ordered.
I normally don't discuss defense spending in the first person, because it undercuts the image of objectivity to which we analysts all aspire. But after writing for a dozen years about why the F-22 is needed -- more than I have discussed any other weapons program -- I want to make this last commentary before the president's decision personal.
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Every potential aggressor in the world knows that if it faces the F-22 in aerial combat, it will lose, and that if the F-22 is sent to attack targets in its nation, the targets will be destroyed. The enemies of the United States cannot see the plane with their radars, and they cannot catch it with their fighters. They are defenseless against it, and will remain so for decades to come.
No other weapon in our arsenal provides that kind of defense and that kind of deterrence. The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning Joint Strike Fighter will deliver similar stealthiness, but it lacks the agility and awareness of the F-22. That is why the two planes were designed to operate together -- because there are many things the F-22 can do that the F-35 cannot. Which makes the F-22 a bargain in a way that tanks and destroyers will never be. It enables the success of all the other weapons and war fighters in the joint force. But if the United States is to benefit fully from the promise of the F-22, then we must buy enough to cover the world, and 183 planes simply isn't enough to do that.
Remember what former Sen. Zell a potential president leading our armed forces with an inadequate arsenal of weapons?
"U.S. forces armed with what? Spitballs?"
We don't want that.
Related posts:
F-22 news
Hey Obama: A defense stimulus would be wise
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