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Published Monday, June 29, 2009 in Opinion
The F-22 debate: National defense verses jobs, pork
Editorial
Editor's note: Today's guest editorial is from the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer.
It would be interesting, and probably entertaining, to have a few choice words from a late general and president named Dwight D. Eisenhower concerning the flap in Congress over funding of the F-22. Because this is the government leviathan Ike dubbed the "military-industrial complex" in its purest form.
Just as a refresher, the radar-dodging F-22 jet is produced by Maryland-based Lockheed and built here in Georgia -- which brings lawmakers from both states, and the defense industry lobbyists who court them, into the middle of the issue.
The dilemma is familiar, and in the era of big-money defense contracts it will never completely go away: weapons systems and other Pentagon purchases whose strategic value might be debatable, but whose importance to specific local and regional economies is not.
In the case of the F-22, the debate arises as the United States is involved in two wars, one in Iraq from which we are trying to extricate ourselves and our troops, and another in Afghanistan that many expect to escalate.
The F-22 has never been used in either conflict.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in his recommendations to President Barack Obama concerning the budget submitted to Congress, called for a sharp reduction in the purchase of F-22s to a total of 187 -- far fewer than Lockheed and its allies on Capitol Hill want Uncle Sam to buy.
The House Armed Services Committee, in a measure supported by most of the Republicans and a few Democrats, voted 31-30 to approve another $369 million for more of the jets -- a move Gates called "a big problem." His proposed $534 billion defense budget emphasizes systems targeting unconventional enemies -- i.e., terrorists -- and fewer Cold War-type holdovers, of which he believes the F-22 is an expensive example.
Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, scored ostensible fiscal conservatives "who are so worried about the deficit (but) apparently think the Pentagon is funded with Monopoly money that somehow doesn't count."
Given his central role in the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac part of the financial meltdown, Frank might not be the most effective pitchman for fiscal discretion. But that doesn't mean he's wrong.
Behind all the rhetoric and partisanship and high-stakes lobbying, the heart of the matter is essentially simple: the national security of the United States. Advocates for the F-22, or any other Pentagon line item for that matter, need to make the case that national defense -- not jobs or pork or regional economic development -- is the single compelling concern. If they can't, they need to shut up and save Americans a whole lot of money. After all, it's not as if there's an abundance of it to throw around right now.
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The F-16s are due to stay in service until 2025. So those airframes according to the engineers who built it have 15 YEARS left in them. The F-35s are due to enter service in 2011. So the difference of being "safe" from being attacked by the Chinese or Russians is about "20" more F-22s being bought *Right* now. As my granma would say, "That don't make a lick of sense." Truth is its about spending money to protect peoples jobs here in Ga. Not about defense.
Posted by Michael at 11:30 AM
Your right Bubba a B52 does not pull the g forces that a fighter pulls.
Posted by Dash Riprock at 9:06 PM
Great comment
Posted by Bubba B Bad at 3:06 PM
If I remember right the fighters pull alot more G forces then a B52 hence they ware out quicker.I worked on the B1 in kansas. The airframes are being used up because the Gs the B1s pull at times. F16 pulls 9 gs constantly f15 6 to 7 constantly, a b52 maybe 3 at the most might hit a 4. like one commenter on here said you need a deterent againist China, Russia etc. The F22 is already online thus saving money for developing and buying other fighters. ALso Gates has been questioned about the F35s why he wants to buy so many that will cost double what the f22s would cost. Plus the F35 will be sold and is being developed by alot of different countries. We shouldn't have what everyone else has.
Posted by Bubba B Bad at 3:05 PM
Considering I worked with B-52s that were older than I was. I suspect that the F-15s, 16s still have a fair amount of service life in them. Considering that we have operational 4.5 generation fighters and the 22 is 5th gen, considering no one else even has a fighter in its class out of development much less production. The politicians protecting defense contractor jobs say they need them. What a lot of people overlook is we already have 180+ of these planes in service and the new F-35s are coming out of development..to quote Gates "The reality is we are fighting two wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the F-22 has not performed a single mission in either theater." The man basically said 183 of the best fighters in the world that we have never used is good enough.. until the Joint Strike fighter program is ready in 5 years. To me it sounds like pork vs common sense.
Posted by Michael at 11:38 AM
I assure you I know alot more about jet fighters then you do. If your talking about Gates he was clueless when he worked for Bush. I worked on jet fighters for over 24 years. So I know what they are capable of doing. The Air Force says we need them. The fighters they have are worn beyond use in airframe time. I am sure you don't have a clue what that means.
Posted by Dash Riprock at 9:39 AM
Fortunately the F-22 is designed to protect us from far greater danger than we are encountering in the two current wars. I am sure Japan and S. Korea are happy to have it at hand. How does the public know the F-22 is not being presently used??? Five or ten years from now we might wish we had 2,000 F-22's. As an owner of a GM "Catera" I would rather my money be spent on F-22's. GM has been failing since 1990.
Posted by Ed at 9:58 PM
Suddenly you folks don't want to listen to the military? Dash reminds me of a wife who buys dresses because they are on sale and not because she needs another dress. Some of you folks are the Imelda Marcos of fighter aircraft.
Posted by Turfkiller at 9:39 PM
Need this airplane and lots of them...use the f-35 to supplement it. Vietnam proved that we need fighters to shot things down. 500 sounds like a good number to me...
Posted by Bill at 3:31 PM
You got it right buddy. Great comment.
Posted by Bubba B Bad at 11:32 AM
First off you stats are wrong. Very little is spent on defense. We spend more on social programs. The F22 is a good weapon system and is a deterent againist enemies.
Posted by Dash Riprock at 10:51 AM
I think we do need the F-22. One because future wars won't be the same and there are countries like Russia, India, China to be concerned about. Second you guys talk about money being wasted look at GM. 50 billion will be thrown away at that company. Some are also predicting 100 billion total will be needed. For what? To save 40,000 jobs (after the cut) at GM when where loosing more than 100,000 every year. This GM bailout could destroy whats left of the auto industry because GM is competing unfairly with tax payer money. The f-22 will give jobs and it meeting a demand for security and putting jobs for the americans. The U.S. Military whole operation depends upon airsupurority. When was the last time you heard of american soldier being bombed. I skies over american have been free because of this.
Posted by Philip Kingston at 10:41 AM
Gates seems to have looked at what the military "needs". Thats his job and decided the F-22 is not it. We're fighting enemies that have NO air force.. none, zilch, nada. An the Congress wants him to buy airplanes that will not be used in combat. This is the definition of Pork politics. Kill the f-22
Posted by Michael at 9:50 AM
The US spends more money on defense than all the other nations in the world, combined. Why do we need this? Do we ever expect to be fighting the entire world? It's insane. Cut the F-22.
Posted by Billy Newman at 7:49 AM
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Michael
7/1/2009
Link To This Comment
Truth of the matter is that engineers from the company that builds the f-16 which is Lockheed always say the jet will last to a certain time period in order to sell them. Majority of the time they don't. If they do thats great. Good discussion and good points on your end.
Posted by Bubba B Bad at 4:30 PM