By Jen DiMascio

The House Appropriations defense subcommittee (HAC-D) is looking at proposals regarding the mix of fighter aircraft it will fund for the Air Force next year, according to subcommittee leaders.

The HAC-D held a closed hearing this week on the grounding of 162 F-15 aircraft.

According to Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), the committee chairman, the F-15 is one example of the hidden costs of the war in Iraq.

“We’re wearing them out,” Murtha said of the F-15s. “We’re not replacing them, not modernizing them.”

But discussion about Boeing [BA] F-15s has more to do with the balance of the future tactical fighter fleet than simply repairing aging planes.

The president’s budget for fiscal year 2009 request released early this week applied money previously intended to begin closing the F-22 Raptor production line to the F-15 program.

Last year, the FY ’08 Defense Appropriations Act suggested that the Pentagon use those F-22 line-closing costs to buy long-lead items for additional Raptors in FY ’10.

Murtha said the subcommittee may follow through on the recommendation from last year.

HAC-D ranking member Rep. Bill Young (R-Fla.) said the decision needs to be analyzed.

“As good an airplane as is the F-15, it is old. In my opinion, we should be very aggressive on F-22 as soon as we’re able,” he said.

He added that the F-15E model, which has a different mission from other F-15 variants, is still a viable aircraft.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Feb. 6 that he opposes buying many more F-22s because he worries they would hamper the service’s ability to buy more F-35 Joint Strike Fighters (JSF) (Defense Daily, Feb. 7). Lockheed Martin [LMT] leads the industry teams that make both the F-22 and the F-35.

Whether and how the Air Force can afford both remains a difficult question for House appropriators.

Young said that decision remains part of the balancing act the subcommittee will take on, because he also supports the JSF.

“We have got to look at, can we get rid of some F-15s? Can we buy more JSF? The mix–we haven’t gotten there yet,” Murtha said.

Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), the ranking member of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee, prefers not to make a choice between the F-22 and the JSF–because both will serve the nation well in the future.

“I just want to do both. We’ll find a way to do both,” Stevens said.