Inside the Air Force - 3/6/2009

PENTAGON SEEKS F-22A COST PROPOSALS TO EXTEND PRODUCTION INTO FY-10

The Pentagon has asked Lockheed Martin to submit proposals for the
production of additional F-22As in fiscal year 2010, a move designed
to give the Obama administration a range of options in deciding next
month whether to cease or extend production of the Air Force’s marquee
fighter.

John Young, the under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology
and logistics, on March 3 told Air Force Secretary Michael Donley to
ask the F-22A prime contractor to prepare by March 15 two cost
estimates: One covering the manufacture of the four aircraft for which
advance materials were purchased over the last few months -- and one
covering an additional batch of 20 aircraft.

“In order to keep the F-22A production line viable until the
department completes its final review of the fiscal year 2010 defense
budget, I direct the Air Force request Lockheed Martin Corporation
provide not-to-exceed cost proposals for procurement of four F-22A
aircraft and, separately, for procurement of 20 F-22A aircraft,” Young
wrote. InsideDefense.com obtained a copy of the memo.

Young -- a Bush administration appointee who is expected to remain in
place until his successor is confirmed by the Senate -- also asked the
Air Force “to make every effort to extend the validity of the current
options for 16 F-22A aircraft until mid-April 2009, in order to allow
the department time to finalize” the FY-10 budget request.

The request comes just days after Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton
Schwartz said he had asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates to consider
buying more F-22As than the 183 in the current plan.

Schwartz last week declined to say exactly how many additional
aircraft he requested, but Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, has said the Air Force would like to buy 243 F-22As
-- an additional 60 aircraft.

Gates is expected to render a decision on the fate of the fighter
program next month as part of a series of “hard choices” that are
expected to be included in the Pentagon’s FY-10 budget proposal.

Gates has said he believes 183 F-22As are sufficient to meet
foreseeable requirements. More broadly, the defense secretary has
strongly advocated shifting some funding slated for conventional
combat capabilities to efforts that bolster the military’s ability to
conduct irregular operations.

The FY-10 budget request prepared by the Pentagon last fall does not
include funding for additional Raptors, according to senior Pentagon
officials.

Young estimated in November 2008 that buying another 20 F-22As in
FY-10 would require an additional $3 billion.

Rob Fuller, a spokesman for Lockheed Martin, confirmed the Air Force
has asked for a new F-22A pricing scheme.

The Office of the Secretary of Defense, which in 2004 slashed the Air
Force’s plans to buy 381 F-22As,

maintains that when combined with a larger force of F-35 Joint Strike
Fighters, a 183-aircraft fleet will give U.S. forces a robust strike-
fighter inventory.

Congress allocated $523 million in FY-09 -- the current fiscal year --
for the advance procurement of F-22A aircraft. The FY-09 Defense
Authorization Act directed that no more than $140 million of these
funds be spent until the president certified to Congress why either
continued production or termination was in the national interest.

That certification was due March 1. Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell
told reporters at the Pentagon on March 5 that a decision on the way
forward for the F-22A program will be conveyed to lawmakers in the
FY-10 budget request, which is due to be delivered to Congress late
next month.

To the frustration of F-22A supporters in Congress, the Pentagon last
fall availed itself of only $50 million to purchase long-lead items
for four additional aircraft.

On Nov. 10, 2008, Young signed an acquisition decision memorandum that
directed the Air Force to begin procurement of Lot 10 of the stealth
fighter, for four aircraft. That memo allowed the service to obligate
up to $50 million for the program and to negotiate an option to buy
long-lead items for an additional 16 aircraft.