Raptor Is Needed, But Should Be Cut Rather Than JS

Defense Today

February 9, 2006

Pg. 2

Henry: Raptor Is Needed, But Should Be Cut Rather Than JSF

By Dave Ahearn

The Air Force needs the F-22A Raptor supersonic stealth aircraft to provide air dominance, but cutting the number of Raptors to 183 from an Air Force request for 381 makes more sense than cutting the numbers of future F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft.

So said Ryan Henry, principal deputy under secretary of defense for policy, speaking to journalists at a Defense Writers Group breakfast.

During a periodic Pentagon assessment of long-range needs, ranging from personnel strength to weapons platform procurement, the study found that there are some aspects of combat where tactical air assets such as the Raptor will make a difference.

This Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) shows that the U.S. military does require "a fifth-generation, low-observable" aircraft such as the F-22A, he said, referring to the F-22A ability to slip past enemy radars undetected.

"We do need to have the F-22," Henry said, "in numbers roughly sufficient."

And that second phrase is critical.

It made more sense, he added, to cut the purchase of Raptors, rather than to slash the JSF purchase.

"It did not make sense to make cuts in the JSF" purchase, Henry said, noting that there is a need for a stealth aircraft that can fly from Navy aircraft carrier decks, which a variant of the JSF will do. The Raptor is designed for airport runways. (Another JSF variant can use runways, while a third version can operate from austere areas or ship decks, with short take-offs and vertical landings.)

Both the Raptor and the JSF programs feature Lockheed Martin Corp. as prime contractor.

The QDR, by slightly increasing the Raptor purchase from an earlier 178 or 179 production run to 183 aircraft, and stretching out production of F-22As for another two years, will mean that Lockheed can keep the Raptor production line humming until it's time to begin making JSFs.

Otherwise, Henry said, there "would be technical risk in shutting down the production line."

Asked how the QDR slashed the Raptor buy to just 183 when the Air Force still maintains it requires 381, Henry said he wasn't involved in the strategy sessions years ago that produced the 381 figure.

Earlier still, the Air Force at one time had requested 750 of the cutting-edge aircraft, but their high cost prompted moves to cut the buy in half (to 381), and successive cuts then whittled the purchase down to 277, and finally to 183.

"War plans change over time," Henry observed.

He also said he hasn't heard any Air Force service chief say lately that 381 Raptors still are needed.

Henry said the QDR calls for moving from funds for one Virginia Class submarine to buying two a year beginning in 2012. But, he said, that assumes that costs of the subs will drop to $2 billion each, from the current $2.4 billion to $2.7 billion per.

General Dynamics Corp. unit Electric Boat and Northrop Grumman Corp. unit Newport News shipbuilding jointly build the subs. Each company builds half a boat, and then the halves are joined.