Air Force poised to make F-22 request

The Air Force will soon ask Defense Secretary Robert Gates for more F-22 Raptors than the 183 planned, but the request will fall short of the service's long-standing goal of buying 381 of the stealthy fighter jets, the Air Force's top officer said Tuesday.

During a breakfast with reporters, Air Force Chief of Staff Norton Schwartz would not disclose the number of additional F-22s he plans to recommend to Gates in the next few weeks.

But he also did not take issue with comments made in December by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Michael Mullen that the Air Force plans to buy about 60 more of the Lockheed Martin fighters.

"I won't dispute Adm. Mullen's characterization, but as I've indicated I have yet to discuss this with the secretary of Defense and I think it would be appropriate that I only share my military advice with him first," said Schwartz, a four-star general who last year became the first pilot to assume the Air Force's most senior position without having flown fighters or bombers.

Schwartz said he had consulted other Air Force leaders in deciding the fate of the F-22 program. He said his decision was made in a "dispassionate, analytical way" that balanced operational risks and costs. The new number of F-22s the Air Force will propose, Schwartz said, represents a moderate operational risk, compared to the goal of 381 F-22s, which posed a low risk to the service. Schwartz acknowledged that the Air Force's desired number of planes may not be the final decision on the F-22.

"The bottom line is that we once again are going to take our best case to the secretary on what we think is the need and the best path ahead and in the end we will have a corporate decision and we will press on from there," Schwartz said.

The Air Force will buy the last of its 183 planned F-22s this year, a reality that has prompted an advertising blitz from Lockheed Martin Corp., the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represents the F-22 labor force, and the program's other suppliers to keep production lines open or risk losing 25,000 jobs in 44 states.

For fiscal 2009, Congress approved $2.9 billion to buy the last 20 F-22 Raptors and added $523 million in advanced procurement money should the new administration opt to buy 20 more fighters in fiscal 2010. But the fiscal 2009 defense authorization bill limits the obligation of the advanced procurement funds to $140 million until administration officials determine whether or not to continue the program. The law requires a decision by March 1.

Schwartz said he expects the Pentagon will send its report to Congress by that deadline or "very shortly afterwards."