F-22 fighter program gets the axe
 

Pentagon to end F-22 production


In a blow to Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon has decided to end funding of the F-22 fighter jet.

http://www.filetransit.com/images/sc...reen_Saver.gif

The Pentagon will fund four of the radar-evading stealth fighters in the upcoming 2009 emergency war-spending request, but those additional aircraft will do little to keep the production line in Marietta, Ga., open beyond 2011. Each F-22 costs about $140 million

No money will be requested in the fiscal 2010 budget, congressional and industry sources familiar with the budget briefings told The Hill. Gates has been making calls to the chairmen of the congressional defense committees.

The final F-22 of the 183 currently on order will be delivered at the end of 2011. Building another four would keep the line open for only a few months beyond that end date.

Lockheed Martin and its subcontractors, including Boeing, in recent weeks have stepped up their campaign to keep the production line open. They argue that 25,000 people work directly for the 1,000 suppliers of the F-22 in 44 states, and another 70,000 indirectly owe their jobs to this program.

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/...009-04-06.html

-------------------------
Thanks Obama
Kiss another 90,000 jobs goodbye.

Re: F-22 fighter program gets the axe
 

just was out side for a cig watching one take off. awesome jet!

but now for the rest of the story-

http://www.usatoday.com/news/militar...s_N.htm?csp=34

but i guess no new jobs will be created for all the new planes. :rolleyes: f-22, f-35, all i know is i hope they have a longer shelf life than the 25 years the f-117 had.

Re: F-22 fighter program gets the axe
 

The F-35 is no Raptor though.

The AF does like it's toys, but Air Superiority has always come with a price tag.

You gotta watch the video

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Re: F-22 fighter program gets the axe
 

im kinda bummed. the raptor is sweet. but when you think that we only had 45 stealth fighters (and kicked alot of ass with them) we are definitely upgrading with 187 f-22's. perhaps 381 were overkill. (i believe we only lost 2 of the stealth on combat missions.)

hard to believe the raptor is already becoming outdated before it sees its 1st combat duty. lockheed martin writes more programming for it in a year than the microsoft corporation does. ive seen a stunt show. i swear the thing has capabilities to hover and fly backwards if it wants.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/07/us...er=rss&emc=rss

Re: F-22 fighter program gets the axe
 

There is also always a long lag time between design and actual production. Always. The SR-71 was designed in the 50's and there STILL isn't anything (that we know of) like it.

RIP 22! Greatest fighter plane ever built.

Re: F-22 fighter program gets the axe
 

thats a kick ass video. i saw the raptor do that last year and couldnt believe what i was seeing.

heres some up close pictures and my review.

http://forums.steelersfever.com/show...ht=F-22+raptor

as stated, what is shown in the video you posted, only scratches the surface of what this plane is capable of.

Re: F-22 fighter program gets the axe
 

Do you know how much it will cost to manufacture a F-35, I would think it would be close to that of the F-22 and from what I heard there is not really much advantage that the F-35 has over the F-22

Re: F-22 fighter program gets the axe
 

Is it just me, or does it seem like air superiority isn't as big of deal these days. It isn't like Hellcats, Spitfies and Zero's are getting shot down in major dogfights these days.

I mean, what's the need for so many expensive planes, anyway?

Re: F-22 fighter program gets the axe
 

Exactly. Air superiority today is more like, can you afford to have ANY modern planes or can't you? The dozen or so countries that can afford to blow $100M-plus per aircraft don't get into wars with each other, and they'll automatically win any war against the mid-major countries that use old Soviet stuff, or the Division II countries with no air force at all.

In fact, I think that's what the JSF is all about: Once you're in that elite club, there are just a handful of options for top-of-the-line fighters, and nobody's got anything that's leaps and bounds ahead of anything else.

Re: F-22 fighter program gets the axe
 

Three answers. . .

China, N. Korea, Russia.