Posted on 07/17/2009 9:05:48 PM PDT by Josh Painter
Although it has yet to see air combat in, the F-22 Raptor air superiority fighter is the object of an intense dogfight on Capitol Hill. The debate has made for some strange bedfellows. On one side, there are the antis - the Pentagon, Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin and Sen. John McCain among them - who want to shut down the production line. One the other, the pros - Sen. Saxby Chambliss, Sen. Chris Dodd and the Air Force Association - who want to see more of the advanced fighters built.
The Raptor is beyond impressive:
The F-22, which entered service three years ago, blends key technologies that formerly existed only separately on other aircraft - or not at all. Its stealthiness will make trigger-happy combatants shoot at birds. It has agility, air-to-air combat abilities and penetrability far beyond that of the F-15 Eagle which entered service 33 years ago. It cruises at Mach-plus speeds without using fuel-guzzling afterburners.No other fighter on the planet can touch it. So what's the problem?
-snip-
A major criticism of the Raptor is the cost - about $339 million per aircraft. But much of this reflects a wisely added ground attack role and a sneaky but common ruse used to cut weapon procurements. Technology development costs are fixed. So each time an order is reduced, per-unit prices go up. Critics slashed the F-22 order, and then cited the "stunning" per-unit cost to slash away again.This game has played out with one weapon system after another, helping explain why an initial plan for acquiring 132 B-2 Spirit bombers ended with a pitiful purchase of 21. But the current per-unit cost for each additional F-22 is around $136 million, according to the Air Force.
(More)
- JP
(Excerpt) Read more at redstate.com ...
John McCain seems intent on killing our military/industrial base, sometimes.
He screws Boeing, on the Tanker deal, and now this?
So we'll end up with less than half of the original desired procurement, which will be better than nothing, and its replacement is probably already on the drawing board.
When I was at Griffiss AFB in the early 90's, I used to drive past a Rome Labs site on my way to the job, and they had an F-22 carcass up on a pedestal, testing it for ECM. Nothing secret about it back then, you could see it from the highway. So, it is already kinda long in the tooth, even though it's only been deployed for a short time. It's the way it works now.
Someone sent me some photos of these Beauties yesterday as the first ones dispatched to Langley AF Base...
The F22 has war winning capacities.
It can go anywhere in the world, drop a big one(or big enough)
and be home before the cloud has stopped rising.
I believe it is imperative to both continue and expand the F22 program.
TWB
There are a lot of people who see air supremacy as America’s birthright, and something that will never go away, no matter how what equipment the USAF flies. These people are confused - air supremacy is a temporary and fleeting phenomenon that requires frequent equipment upgrades and a large number of planes. The US built more airplanes than every other country involved in WWII - put together. And yet it never had air supremacy.
More importantly, the F22 has war preventing capacity.
Maybe we never had air supremacy in a sense. But the differences were at best, academic in the final month or so. It became utterly tragic and futile for a German or Japanese pilot to take off at all by that point. Be they even flying a Jet, a rocket-plane, the latest Focke Wulf, or whatever.
Fleets of our bombers roamed at will, only realistical threatened by flak. Any interceptor was almost immediately and impossibly overwhelmed by Mustangs, Corsairs, or Hellcats.
I have been saying for a long time - John McCain is now acting on the programming done to him while a POW... He is nearly as intent on destroying America as 0bama. And folks wonder how he lost the ‘08 election... duh.
Last time I checked Airbus was getting screwed on the tanker deal. Airbus won the contract and they are still waiting.
Perhaps the House can also discuss potential Raptor exports? To Australia, maybe?
McRino loves the Zero 
McCain did the good little Manchurian Candidate take-a-dive last year, apologizing to ali Hussein if his face hurt the soles of The One's boots.
America must have air dominance, hence must have the F-22.
ali Hussein hates America, hence America must not have the F-22.
In the manner of the "leave the gun, take the cannoli" line, I recommend America leave ali Hussein and take the F-22.
Or in the alternative, give him to Hugo Chavez a la the birthday gift in The Boys in the Band.
The Raptor engages and kills before the enemy knows it's there.
Very nice.
For contrast, let us suggest that the boy king from Kenya eschew his five inches of ballistic armor and his roll-flat tires and do his next motorcade in a Prius.
Aw, gee, he's scowling--we've made him mad.
Air dominance since the Korean War.
Sweeping the skies of Russian-piloted Migs with our advanced Sabre Jets.
Obama wants us to keep going down in the F-80s.
Send Obama and Gates and McCain out on an ice floe as an offering for the polar bears.
Everybody's gotta sacrifice, gotta have some skin in the game.
Too expensive? If it saves the lives of our military personal, then the cost is justified.
Its funny, the republicrats speak of "health care", yet they will dismiss the life of a soldier because of the cost?
Hypocrisy is amazing isn't it?
Boeing screwed themselves. Ask the Japanese and Italians about how long they’ve been waiting for Boeing to deliver their tankers.
The cost of producing ONE airplane is often more than the cost of producing several of the same airplane.
When our own government constantly screws with the bid process, it is terribly unfair, and hard to plan.
The Airbus tanker was a CHEAT against the American people and against Boeing.
Airbus tankers will require longer runways, brand new aircraft hangers, and many other expenses that the stacked Airforce stoodges ignored.
The Airforce did not ask for a tanker as big as what Airbus came out with.
Boeing could have bid to any specs, and won, but the specs kept changing.
Your facts are simply wrong.
Maybe if Linda Hall Daschle were still around to lobby for Boeing this wouldn’t have happened.
Our technological edge in the aerial battlefields rests with these F-22 Raptors.
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