So long, old friend

According to the New York Times Senate democrats led the charge to remove provisions for funding seven more F22's from a military defense bill. This news is not particularly surprising, given the administration and Gates' overt feelings on the cost and utility of F22.

Sean outlined a few months ago about the importance of the F22 in his DSSFeed blog. I find his arguments on deterrence particularly convincing. Sean Wrote

Rather, elected officials and defense experts should insist on a return to the strategy of deterrence. They must make the argument that not only will the Raptor ensure air superiority for 40 years, but that it is necessary to have that capability for dissuasion and deterrence. A strong case can be made that the F-22 will dissuade rising competitors like China from challenging the US in the realm of air combat. Its advanced avionics and high technology can also deter a resurgent (and uppity) Russia from seeking a fait accompli in any future aggression against Eastern Europe (assuming F-22s are deployed in Europe).

The administration seems to disagree and it looks like the world's most advanced fighter will be capped at #187. The administration seems bent on cutting the defense budget of vital resources like the F22, in favor of grossly expanding other parts of the budget.

The administration rather favors the production of the F35 as its primary weapon to ensure air superiority over any current or potential adversaries. The problem is that many air force wonks disagree.

Retired General Merrill McPeak told Fox News

"I think it's a real mistake, The airplane is a game-changer and people seem to forget that we haven't had any of our soldiers or Marines killed by enemy air since 1951 or something like that. It's been half a century or more since any enemy aircraft has killed one of guys. So we've gotten use to this idea that we never have to breathe hostile air."

Former SecDef, Bill Cohen ( a clintonite ) said this about the f22

The F-22 will enable the Joint Strike Fighter (f35) to carry out its primary strike mission. The JSF(F35) was not designed for the air-superiority mission.

It all comes down to this - the f35 cannot achieve the same strategic objectives that the f22 was designed for.

We know that plans for the f35 have been hacked by the Chinese which means that its value has been at least somewhat compromised. Not to mention the fact that the f22 outperforms the f35 statistically in air to air exercises almost across the board.

So instead the funds will be diverted by the administration to some stimulus package designed to save wild horses.

Au Revoir, Raptor, mon ami!