TOPICS
TOPICS
Obama vows to veto Senate bill with F-22s
As the Senate began debate on the fiscal 2010 defense authorization bill, President Obama on Monday pledged to veto any bill that keeps F-22 Raptor fighter jet production lines running after completion of the current order for 187 planes.
In identical letters to Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., and ranking member John McCain, R-Ariz., Obama backed Defense Secretary Robert Gates' decision to end production of the aircraft with the last four aircraft in the recently enacted fiscal 2009 supplemental spending bill.
"To continue to procure additional F-22s would be to waste valuable resources that should be more usefully employed to provide our troops with the weapons they actually do need," Obama wrote.
The authorization measure includes $1.75 billion for seven of the Lockheed Martin-produced fighters next year. Levin and McCain have introduced an amendment that would strip that funding from the bill. McCain said Monday he does not believe he and Levin have the votes right now to pass their amendment.
But he said he hopes the president's letter has a "significant impact on my colleagues on both sides of the aisle."
In a separate letter to Levin and McCain today, Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Michael Mullen similarly decried efforts to boost the size of the F-22 fleet as unnecessary, particularly as the military begins to procure the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and more unmanned aerial vehicles.
COMMENTS
- Dan, this article is about procurement of leading technology, not the cost of manpower. I think your example to be meaningless when comparative values of the "world's best" _____ (insert type of airframe) are analyzed. Most of the comments point out flaws in the value of the F-22 versus other fighters, its bad maintenance record, its inability to carry payloads, etc. The decision to stop production is logical to me. Gnatman Posted July 15, 2009 8:03 AM
- Kurt when you compare $$ your comparing apples and oranges . Do you think the chinese russian and Nkorean soldiers are paid what our troops receive?? We spend more on our CS than the rest of the world combined so lets force a huge pay cut. As for barak's threatened veto as W would say "Bring it on" dan m ketter Posted July 14, 2009 3:31 PM
- F-22 are in maintenance 40 hours for every hour of flight. If Gates, a Bush appointee, says we don't need them, and Obama does not want them either, why spend $1.75 Billion to make Lockheed happy. This is NOT weakening our defensive, it is realizing the money is not unlimited and using it where it has value. When was the last time an F-22 saved us from a terrorist? Barry S Posted July 14, 2009 12:38 PM
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