Trillions for pork but nothing for the Raptors?

Last week, with two active battlefields still requiring the complete air superiority Americans have come to assume is a condition of nature, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced that production of the Raptor –generally recognized as the greatest fighter plane in history with no equal on the planet-- would conclude at 187.

Proponents of a robust margin of safety in the skies when it comes to military power did not react well. Joseph E. Sutter, Chairman of the Board of the Air Force Association, asked in an op-ed whether the U.S. was “one day closer… to the day when the US loses air dominance, one of our asymmetric advantages in any conflict – irregular warfare or major conventional-strategic combat operations?”

“Every plan, every contingency, assumes we'll control the skies”

Sutter continued. “One of the first tasks of Operation Desert Storm was to wipe out Iraqi air defenses. Today, our unmanned air vehicles operate freely in Iraq and Afghanistan because we are unchallenged. Ending the production of the F-22 fighter at 187 places at risk our ability to meet known threats.

“We know others are producing highly capable systems to challenge our current F-15s and the F-22. And they will not stop at 187. As recently as last year, reducing the F-22 buy from 381 to around 250 was described by some as a ‘medium risk’ maneuver. What does capping it at 187 mean? [snip]

Forfeiting a huge advantage in the skies on the assurance that we will never need such superiority should be met with reminders that no one saw 9/11 or the market collapse of 2008 coming, and there are clearly threats on our horizon that could accelerate just as quickly as the Islamist threat or drops in the Dow did in the recent past.

Trillions for pork but not even millions for the greatest fighter plane in history?

Congress needs to step in and step up production of the F-22 and of the components of missile defense. We already have too many reminders of the ‘30s. A unilateral disarmament in air power is an unnecessary and dangerous addition to them.

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image toon c-art = nsec gwot = New seal of defense budget = 1 arrow



"RETAIN RAPTOR PRODUCTION-DEPLOYMENT"


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