President Obama wanted to see this done, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates made sure that the F-22 program would be killed, eliminating follow-up purchases of this fifth generation aircraft, and 4th generation stealth fighter.
What would this aircraft bring to the table? It's an air superiority fighter, which would supersede that of the F-15, which had a similar function. The F-15 has been flown quite a bit by the US and there is cause for concern over the ability of the airframe to handle the stresses (several recent crashes involved airframe separations causing the loss of the aircraft and deaths of pilots/crew).
The F-22 would bring thrust vectoring and other advanced technologies to the forefront, and complement the F-35 JSF that is also being ordered and delivered to the US Air Force, Marines, and Navy. The F-35 would not replace the F-22.
Yet, the Senate voted 58-40 to kill the F-22 program.
Then, there's the economic angle. At a time when the US economy is hurting and the industrial base is shedding manufacturing jobs, this program is getting whacked, all to save $1.75 billion.
How many people are working on the F-22 project who will now have to find work elsewhere as the company closes down production for want of $1.75 billion, which would strengthen our national security?
The F-22 employs 1,800 in Dallas/Fort Worth alone. Tens of thousands more work on the project nationwide, and yet they're all going to be looking for work as Lockheed Martin sees that they don't need them on their payroll as the work dries up.
This is real stimulus - real jobs, real tangible goods that improve the local economy and national defense as an added bonus, and yet it's getting whacked.
Yet, President Obama says that eliminating this program will better protect our troops. How exactly is that going to be done? As noted above, the F-22 and F-35 were built for different missions and each complements the other. One cannot fully replace the other, just as surely as the F-16 does not replace the F-15 for all missions. This is a serious mistake, and believing that our nation's enemies will remain solely the Taliban or terrorist groups attacking US strategic interests from the fringes is extremely short sighted. It's complacency, pure and simple.
With all the trillions of dollars that the federal government is throwing around, they can't find $1.75 billion to continue this program?
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