LAAR aircraft--USA, not Brazil

The most optimistic view of our economy is that we are in a slow-growth period. But we could be headed into a double-dip recession. The national unemployment rate stubbornly dwells in the 9 percent range. Yet our Defense Department is considering choosing a Brazilian company, Embraer, to build its new Light Attack/Armed Reconnaissance (LAAR) aircraft. The competing firm is Hawker Beechcraft, an American firm. It is proposing the AT-6 to fulfill this military need.

Besides the crucial need to create American jobs, Hawker Beechcraft manufactures aircraft that all of our service branches have trained with, and it provides other performance and cost advantages. The latter should not be overlooked--in the upcoming era of austerity, even our defense needs will face close scrutiny.

Hawker Beechcraft want to build the AT-6 in Wichita--which the recession has hit hard--it will create 800 high-paying manufacturing jobs there and 600 others in the rest of the country. An Embraer LAAR means just 50 American jobs, the rest go to Brazil.

Jobs are scarce in America, manufacturing jobs are scarcer.

1,400 American jobs vs. 50.

This should be an easy decision for the DoD. But just in case the Pentagon doesn't get the hint, I'll be blunt: build the LAAR here.

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