Financial Times
January 17, 2008 By Demetri Sevastopulo, Washington
The Pentagon will next month ask Congress for money to buy additional F-22 fighter jets, postponing the scheduled closure of the Lockheed Martin production line for the stealth aircraft.
Gordon England, deputy defence secretary, told Congress the Pentagon would request money for the F-22s, or Raptors, to replace other fighter aircraft lost in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a letter obtained by the Financial Times.
Lockheed Martin, which runs the more than $60bn (€40.5bn, £30.5bn) programme to manufacture the fifth-generation advanced fighter jet, is due to supply the Air Force with 183 jets under a plan that would see production of the fighter cease in 2011.
Inside the Pentagon, however, the Air Force has been arguing that it needs 381 Raptors for future needs, including maintaining defences against stealth aircraft being built by China and Russia.
Mr England has consistently opposed procuring more than the planned 183 jets. Last week, in a high-level meeting attended by Robert Gates, defence secretary, he came under criticism from the Air Force, according to several people familiar with the debate.
Geoff Morrell, Pentagon press secretary, said Mr Gates agreed to ask Congress for permission to use $500m that would have been used to close the line to pay for a “modest” increase of four Raptors. He added that the move did not herald a large additional purchase, but noted that the Air Force would see the move “as a lifeline” since the production line would remain open.
“They will live to fight another day,” said Mr Morrell.
In his letter, Mr England reiterated his view that ”investing in fifth-generation fighters for all three [military] services by buying the more modern F-35 provides more effective capability...than concentrating investments in a single service by buying more F-22s.”
But Loren Thompson, a defence expert at the Lexington Institute who has close ties to the Air Force, said the decision to buy more F-22s reflected a shift in the Pentagon away from Mr England’s position towards the Air Force.
“The deputy secretary is fighting hard to prevent continuing production of the F-22,” said Mr Thompson. “But he seems to be losing the battle both inside the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill.”
In December, 28 senators signed a letter expressing support for keeping the production line open, and allowing the Air Force to buy more F-22s. They cited three classified studies which, they said, concluded that the Pentagon needed to procure at least 220 Raptors.
Mr Thompson said the combination of those studies with the recent grounding of a significant portion of the Air Force’s fleet of aging F-15 fighters has made it more difficult for Mr England to oppose the Air Force.
“While this recent decision to continue the production line past the...purchase of 183 aircraft does not guarantee that the Air Force will get the full buy of 381 F-22s, it is a critical first step in keeping that option on the table for the next administration,” said Doug Birkey, deputy director of government affairs at the Air Force Association.
Tom Jurkowsky, spokesman for Lockheed Martin, said Lockheed was unaware of the planned request, but said the company would “welcome the opportunity” to build more of the advanced fighter.

Anyone have any idea how many fixed wing aircraft have actually been lost to fire in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Dunno... five?

Sounds like they are really afraid to let the most advanced fighter plane in the world to the frontline.

Nah they're needed for more important duty like duck tracking in Alaska.

duck hunting or saying to everybody that "we got more expensive toys than you"