Thursday, June 25, 2009

Future Of F-22 Uncertain As Congress Battles Pentagon And White House

From The Examiner:

The President has issued a veto threat over spending for new F-22 Raptors in the 2010 Defense Authorization Bill. The current fleet of 187 F-22s is considered enough by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who points to the fact that the F-22 has not flown a single sortie in support of the Iraq or Afghanistan wars as proof that the military needs to reorient its procurement procedure to focus on equipment necessary for counterinsurgency warfare. The F-22 was planned during the later years of the Cold War to be the successor to the F-15 Eagle air superiorty fighter. Essentially, its job description was to beat the Soviet Union in a war. The Pentagon and White House argue this capability is no longer needed on such a grand scale (the original request by the Air Force was 381 F-22s).

Read more ....

More News On F-22

White House warns of veto over F-22 spending -- Smart Brief
White House threatens veto if military budget has money for more F-22s -- Star Telegram
Obama threatens veto of authorization bill -- Navy Times
Obama threatens veto of defense bill over fighter jet add-on -- Government Executive
Veto for F-22? Not Likely -- Weekly Standard

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