By Emelie Rutherford
The “big four” defense appropriators have joined other lawmakers in pushing the Pentagon to stick to plans to buy parts now for 20 future F-22 fighter jets, instead of obligating advance-procurement funds for just four aircraft before the next administration weighs in on the Raptor’s future.
Pentagon acquisition chief John Young told exasperated House defense authorizers Wednesday he’s moving forward with actions to award a Nov. 26 contract for long-lead components for only four Lockheed Martin [LMT]-built Raptors.
After the hearing, Senate Appropriations Defense subcommittee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Ranking member Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), along with House Appropriations Defense subcommittee Chairman John Murtha (D-Pa.) and Ranking Member Bill Young (R-Fla.) signed off on a letter calling for Defense Secretary Robert Gates to buy parts for all 20 aircraft, sources said.
Saying “the continued production of F-22 is critical to our national security,” a draft version of the letter urges Gates “to reconsider your decision, and commit to obligating the amount appropriated for long-lead items as stipulated in the Fiscal Year 2009 Defense Appropriations Act.”
“In addition, we would advise you that any other proposed use of this funding would be inconsistent with congressional intent,” adds the unsigned draft dated Nov. 17.
The fiscal year 2009 defense authorization and appropriations bills together allow the Pentagon to spend up to $140 million in advanced monies for 20 F-22s to be purchased in FY ’10; after approval from President-elect Barack Obama’s team between Jan. 21 to March 1, another $383 million can be spent on long-lead parts.
Yet Pentagon leadership has hesitated to buy more F-22s than the 183 on contract, and Young on Nov. 10 approved a $50 million parts purchase for four future aircraft. He said Obama’s team will decide what to do with the advanced monies for the 16 other jets.
“It is our understanding that this proposal could create serious risks for the program,” the defense appropriators state in the draft letter.
They say the Pentagon’s recent F-22 decision may result in a break in production and increase the acquisition cost of future aircraft–an assertion lawmakers made at the House Armed Service Air Land subcommittee hearing Wednesday (Defense Daily, Nov. 20).
“Today the F-22 production line is the nation’s only fifth generation fighter aircraft production line capability,” the appropriators’ draft letter states. “We have serious concerns about the choice to put this industrial capability at risk. There are over 25,000 people working on this program. Mr. Secretary, the last thing our nation needs is to terminate jobs in this time of such economic uncertainty.”
Congressional aides said yesterday it’s not clear what impact the letter will have, and if lawmakers can alter the Pentagon’s current path. Some aides said that at this point lawmakers don’t have enough time to try to pursue a legal remedy with the aid of the Government Accountability Office.
Young said at the Wednesday hearing that a new Not To Exceed (NTE) estimate from Lockheed Martin shows obligating advance-procurement funds for four F-22s now and 16 later would cost no more than obligating the money for all 20 aircraft. Yet sources indicated that, if the Obama administration and Congress agree to outright buy the 20 F-22s in FY ’10, such a four-16 split would indeed increase F-22 procurement costs by hundreds of millions of dollars in FY ’10.