By Emelie Rutherford
A group of senators sent Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England a letter this week criticizing what they said is a Pentagon proposal to scale back on planning for future purchases of Lockheed Martin [LMT]-built F-22 fighter jets.
The six Republicans–Sens. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), John Cornyn (R-Tex.), Orin Hatch (R-Utah), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), and John Thune (R-S.D.)– called in the letter for England to stick to a congressional plan for the Pentagon to obligate $140 million for long-lead items for F-22s.
This follows a letter sent Monday from House defense authorizers to Defense Secretary Robert Gates that prodded the Pentagon to spend money approved by Congress on F-22 advance procurement (Defense Daily, Nov. 4).
The six senators argued in the letter dated Nov. 3 that the Pentagon should immediately obligate $140 million–allowed under the fiscal year 2009 defense authorization and appropriations bills–to begin advanced procurement purchases for F-22s that could potentially be bought in FY ’10, pending President-elect Barack Obama’s approval.
Though the Pentagon requested no funding from Congress to continue the F-22 line beyond aircraft purchased with FY ’09 monies, both the FY ’09 defense appropriations and authorization acts add $523 million in advance-procurement funds for 20 FY ’10 aircraft–thus potentially keeping the line running.
The authorization act, though, includes a provision that would prohibit obligating more than $140 million of those advance funds until the next president decides, no later than March 1, 2009, “whether continuing F-22 production or terminating production would be in the best interests of the Nation,” a bill report says.
The Air Force and Lockheed Martin want that $140 million to be obligated now, but sources said Pentagon leadership has resisted.
In the letter to England, the six senators said they “understand” that of the F-22 advance-procurement monies allowed under the defense authorization and appropriations bill, “the Department is proposing to obligate AP funds for only four aircraft.”
“We respectfully disagree with the Department’s proposed decision in this regard,” they wrote.
“The intent of Congress…is that the entire $140 million be immediately available and obligated for advance procurement in order to preserve the F-22 industrial base, thereby preserving the continued production decision for the next administration,” they wrote.
They noted Gates has said he intends to keep the F-22 production line open until the next administration decides its fate.
“Obligating advanced procurement funding for only four aircraft will not accomplish that goal,” they said.
They added that while Gates has said he intends to request four additional F-22s in the next supplemental war-funding bill, no such request has been made, and that any future request “would likely not be considered by Congress before suppliers would have to cease production.”
Chambliss, Cornyn, Inhofe, and Thune are on the Senate Armed Services Committee.