By Emelie Rutherford
Pushing back at the Pentagon’s plans to shut down F-22 production after 187 jets, a House panel yesterday authorized the purchase of parts for 12 more aircraft and directed the Obama administration to study the feasibility of Japan buying the stealth fighter.
Before the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) approved its version of the fiscal year 2010 defense authorization bill early yesterday morning, members agreed to include a $369 million authorization for the Air Force to buy long-lead items for 12 future F-22s from Lockheed Martin [LMT].
An amendment proposed by Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) to take the $369 million in F-22 advance-procurement monies out of a defense-environmental-cleanup fund spurred a lengthy debate and led some Democrats who declared their support for buying more F-22s to vote against the amendment. Yet the funding shift prevailed in a 31-30 vote, one of the final ones of the 16-plus-hour bill-writing session.
Bishop criticized the Pentagon’s decision to buy 187 F-22s, instead of previous numbers as high as 750. He charged the 187 number was derived through a “budget game” without the analysis of a study like the Quadrennial Defense Review, and pointed to Air Force support for 243 F-22s.
“There are three reasons for doing this: priorities, jobs, and our national defense,” Bishop said about his amendment. “We can either put $2 billion into a fund that will sit there for two years doing nothing or we can provide jobs for 25,000 people directly throughout this country, 95,000 jobs (including those indirectly tied to F-22 production) totally throughout this country. That should be our priority, and more importantly it is a statement that this is important for our national defense, and that Congress should make that decision, not the secretary of defense.”
Most Democrats who spoke against the amendment–including HASC Vice Chairman and Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt (D-S.C.)–noted their support for buying more F-22s yet concerns about diminishing the environmental-cleanup funds.
Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.), a former Navy three-star admiral, was alone in declaring his support for Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ decision to stop the F-22 line at 187 aircraft. Sestak said the only warfighting scenario warranting the F-22 is one where the United States and China face off in air, and a fleet of 187 of the fighters is sufficient considering the planned buy of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. He argued funds are needed to improve existing F-22s.
HASC Air and Land Forces subcommittee Chairman Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) voted against the successful F-22 amendment yet voiced strong support for buying even more F-22s than Bishop proposed. Abercrombie criticized Gates for not spending advance-procurement funds Congress authorized and appropriated in FY ’09 for 20 F-22s, and instead expending the long-lead monies for just four of the 20 aircraft.
“We’ve got to find a way to…get at least 20 planes out there, not 12, get at least 20 planes, which is what was supposed to be done, and deliberately thwarted by the Pentagon,” Abercrombie said during the debate. “And if we do that, that will give us some breathing room, some ability to make a decision about what we want to do with the F-22 or not….If we don’t figure out a way to do this, and to [make a] bridge until we make a decision about the F-22, the Pentagon will take it, and certainly Mr. Gates will take it, as, ‘I don’t have to pay attention to those people (in Congress). I will do as I please, regardless of what they tell me to do.'”
The HASC also approved, as part of a package of amendments, language proposed by Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) directing a report on potential foreign-military sales of the F-22 to Japan. The provision calls on the defense secretary to coordinate with the secretary of state and consult with the Air Force secretary on the report, which would be due 30 days after the authorization bill is enacted.
Japan has long coveted the fifth-generation fighter, which cannot be sold to foreign nations under a legislative prohibition authored by House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.).
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) told reporters this month he has recently talked to Japanese officials about developing an F-22 export version. House Appropriations Defense subcommittee Chairman John Murtha (D-Pa.) also has talked to Inouye about the matter.
Courtney said in an interview yesterday that exporting the F-22 to Japan would be a creative way to sustain the production line.
“This is something that got a lot more interest after the April 6 speech by Gates (unveiling the 187-F-22 plan),” he said. “And I do think, from the other side of the transaction, I think Japan is a good ally. President Obama described them as the cornerstone of our East Asia policy.”
Japanese officials have reportedly expressed a preference for the F-22 over the F-35, which multiple nations are planning to buy.
“So assuming we can strike the right balance in terms of the technology issue, it really should work,” Courtney said. He also spoke yesterday with Murtha about the matter.
The supplemental war-funding bill that passed the House Tuesday states F-22 monies in it “may be used to explore options to develop an export variant of the F22A” and cannot be used to shut down the production line.
The supplemental funds the final four F-22s the Pentagon requested.