GOP control of the house could revive the F-22

[jessmo24]

http://blogs.ajc.com/political-insid...he-f-22-fight/

What are the chances?
The takeover of the U.S. House by Republicans could prompt a revival of the fight for additional funding for the Marietta-built F-22 stealth fighter, U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey said Friday.
pgingreyajcmug

U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey, a Republican from Marietta. AJC file

“This isn’t just for the sake of home-cooking, but also for the sake of the country,” Gingrey said in a telephone interview.

[mabie]

I think they should prioritize upgrading all the earlier Raptor blocks to the latest standard first. If they egt tied up in a debate to build more jets, the proposed upgrade program could be derailed. AFAIK the upgrade proposal still needs to get the go-ahead though.

[MadRat]

If they could find the money for three dozen then those earliest models could get transferred out of active units and form a training group. That alleviates the pressures to standardize them on par with the others.

[djcross]

The parts pipeline dried up 2 years ago. It will be very expensive to re-start, especially since tooling has been removed, floorspace dedicated to other projects and personnel reassigned.

F-22 is mid-1990s technology and needs an expensive makeover to bring it up to date.

[toan]

The president still has the right to veto any attempt of reviving F-22 from the Congress.

The GOP won't be able to revive the project of F-22 until:

1. It gets back The President of USA in the next election.

or

2. It changes the mind of Obama successfully.

[Bager1968]

The president still has the right to veto any attempt of reviving F-22 from the Congress.

The GOP won't be able to revive the project of F-22 until:

1. It gets back The President of USA in the next election.

or

2. It changes the mind of Obama successfully.

3. It changes its own mind.

Comments from one Republican representative aside, it was a GOP president (Bush 43), with a GOP-dominated Senate that put the airframe cap on F-22 (191* in 2007, later dropped to 187* by Obama in 2009).

Simply put, neither party wanted to keep building them!



* including the 8 test & development airframes... operational totals are 183 & 179.

[geogen]

Perhaps the more pertinent question of the incoming Congress, would be if they'd support a 4.5 gen alternative (stopgap) policy for FY12?

As it stands, it appears that Rep. Buck McKeon (R-CAL) is a big 'stay the course' F-35 guy. Any potential 'change' in Govt thinking on this matter would therefore next stir up probably around summer, '11.

[Erkokite]

Bob Gates is still vehemently opposed to restarting the F-22 line AFAIK.

[AlphaChi1989]

187 is still good number to make. Time to move on to next generation plans - better fighter jet that will shake & bake up to Mach 3, and go higher, and do a good job in the sky.