Lawmakers take hard look at Air Force fighter programs

Lawmakers may have to decide whether the federal budget can sustain two of the Air Force's key aircraft acquisition programs as they debate the Bush administration's fiscal 2006 budget proposal, according to a defense analyst.

"Congress is going to have to look at what capabilities each of these aircraft have and what capabilities we're likely to actually need over the next 25 to 50 years," said Christopher Preble, the Cato Institute's director of Foreign Policy Studies. "The problem with the [Joint Strike Fighter] and F/A-22 is the role that politics has played. We're not basing procurement on the needs of the military but on the perceived needs of the defense industrial base."

Last year, House Armed Services Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee Chairman Curt Weldon, R-Pa., said defense experts should undertake a review of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and F/A-22 programs to try to prevent continued budget shortfalls. Weldon vowed then that the subcommittee would take an in-depth look at programs like the F/A-22 and JSF.

Allen Li, director of acquisition and sourcing management issues at GAO, told the subcommittee last week that the JSF and F/A-22 programs represent a potential future investment for DOD, with roughly $240 billion to be spent to modernize tactical fixed wing aircraft. Li told the panel that problems in the F/A-22 program strain its viability.

Originally, the Air Force had planned to take delivery of 750 of the new generation fighter jets, but that number has been cut to less than 180. Delays in the program and cost increases have led to a decision to terminate procurement of the F/A-22 after fiscal 2008.

The JSF, the DOD's most costly aircraft acquisition program, has seen its cost estimate rise 80 percent and operational capability delayed two years as the number of aircraft expected to be acquired has been cut by 535, according to the Government Accountability Office. A full-rate production decision is expected this month. DOD estimates total cost to procure the fleet will reach $245 billion, with $344 billion over its life cycle for operation and maintenance.

Preble said he believes there is little need for two major aviation programs. "During the Cold War it was easier to maintain multiple tactical fighter programs simultaneously and everyone realized there was a certain amount of waste and duplication there, but the threat posed by the Soviet Union was sufficient for hedging of bets. It's much harder to make that case in 2005," he said. "We need to make some hard choices as to which aircraft will likely have the longest life cycle, contribute to the most to our security for the longest period of time."

Preble said the JSF meets those needs, but support on Capitol Hill for the F/A-22 is well entrenched. Lt. Gen. Ronald Keys, the Pentagon's deputy chief of staff for air and space operations, said systems brought into operation in the mid-70s cannot maintain an advantage by attempting to band-aid simple improvements onto yesterday's technology.

"Recapitalizing our aging systems is our No. 1 challenge," Keys said.