F-22 funding draws support from top military brass

Lockheed Martin Corp.'s F-22 fighter has drawn the support of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and 10 regional U.S. military commanders, who wrote House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., Wednesday protesting the House decision to cut $1.8 billion in FY2000 funding for the program, Bloomberg News Service reported.

"As the Joint Chiefs of Staff, we speak with one voice on this issue: America needs the F-22 to ensure that our military forces always achieve air superiority in any conflict," wrote Joint Chiefs Chairman Henry Shelton, and the commanders of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.

It is highly unusual for the nation's top military leaders to write Capitol Hill protesting budget cuts on a weapons system, and their comments could play a role when House and Senate negotiators meet in September to reconcile their differing versions of the $266 billion Defense appropriations budget.

The Senate fully supports the administration's $3 billion F-22 request, and President Clinton said last week he will fight to restore the funding.

The 10 regional U.S. commanders, who wrote a separate letter to Hastert saying much the same thing, included NATO Supreme Allied Commander Wesley Clark, U.S. Central Command Commandant Anthony Zinni and U.S. Pacific Command Commander in Chief Dennis Blair.

The Air Force, Defense Secretary William Cohen and Lockheed Martin officials have repeatedly claimed the cut would trigger a chain reaction in the $62 billion program, escalating overall costs by about 10 percent and dismantling the subcontractor base.

This would effectively kill a program in which the Pentagon has invested $24 billion to date, they contend.

The House transferred the $1.8 billion to buy other aircraft, including $490 million for more Boeing F-15E fighters and $300 million for pilot bonuses. It approved $1.2 billion for continued F-22 research.

The $62 billion F-22 program is the Pentagon's largest weapons project and promises billions in revenue for defense contractor Lockheed Martin's Marietta, Ga.-based aeronautics sector if production proceeds as planned through 2011. Boeing Co. shares about one-third of the program.