By Jen DiMascio
To keep the F-22 Raptor fighter jet production line open, the Air Force needs to know by October whether Congress will supply funding for advance procurement in fiscal year 2010, a service official said yesterday.
Without a commitment for funding, the service will begin to close the production line in November. With the commitment, it will begin planning for either another year or more of production.
“It’s a huge year for decisions on the program,” Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Reimer, the program executive officer for the F-22, said at the Aviation Week Defense Technology and Requirements conference.
By October 2008, the service would need a commitment of about $526 million, he said, which would provide advance funding and titanium for 20 aircraft.
The service is also working a supplier-base issue. According to Reimer, he needs to buy additional avionics boxes quickly to prevent having to redesign additional purchases of F-22s.
In addition, the program is dealing with a legal issue. He needs authorization for procurement beyond the initial 183.
Air Force officials during the conference reiterated the service’s position that it needs 381 of the stealth fighters even if it comes with a hefty price tag.
It makes sense to continue the F-22 to retain its extensive industrial base, Reimer said, stressing that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will tap into the same supplier base.
According to Reimer, “it may be prudent” to consider the impact of shutting down the F-22 industrial base while the F-35 program is “spinning up” its production capability.
The program has an impressive congressional footprint–1,000 suppliers based in 44 different states. Nevertheless, the Pentagon has stood in the way of purchasing more.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates last week called the current purchase of 183 aircraft “a reasonable buy.”
Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne acknowledged the discrepancy between the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Air Force.
“I think the Secretary of Defense said it well, a difference of opinion remains. I still think he’s a great guy,” Wynne said, adding later that Congress in the end has always had the final say, and he looks forward to what it will say.