So, it looks like the Pentagon and Administration withheld information from Congress about the availabilty and capability of the JSF until after the vote on the F-22.
Key graphs:
One defense expert emails in response to the revelations, “Gates and company get caught hiding the ball once again. Just another piece of evidence suggesting the decision to end the F-22’s production was driven not by analysis and study but simply a desire to cut the budget.”
Indeed, it’s clear the Pentagon sat on a report that undermined the administration’s case for killing the F-22 until after a key Senate vote. “Now, senators and aides are lamenting that the Pentagon oversight panel’s more pessimistic view on the F-35 program was not publicly released during the F-22 debate and are calling for more open disclosure of the problems with the development of the F-35,” Rogin reports.
But as they say, read the whole thing.
Comments 4
Not to tout the blog or anything, but this F-22 decision is emerging as of a piece with a trend I’m doing a series on. It looks to me like Gates is a willing participant in it, and the outcome envisioned is precisely that the US loses the option to choose military response, in situations where Russian or Chinese-level air defenses are involved. (See the last line of the Weekly Standard blog piece, for why that’s relevant.)
I’ve never been a partisan of particular named weapon systems. Arguing national security in terms of them is often misleading. But capabilities are important to me, and the F-22 represents a set of capabilities no other aircraft does. Even with a full build, my estimate is it will take three F-35s to do what one F-22 could do. By shutting down the F-22 buy, we are consigning ourselves to lose a lot more aircraft and aircrew, to achieve less, if we have to fight a 4th/5th-gen air defense foe.
July 24th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
Dyer, why is it either/or with the F22 7 F35?
Why wouldn’t the F22 be available to lead and the F35 to follow after the defenses had been degraded?
July 24th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
fuster, I think it’s because there are some who want to limit the amount of money spent on weapons systems.
July 24th, 2009 at 10:18 pm
Bruce, I understand that people want to limit money spent on weapons. Some people point out that the F35 is, in several ways, a better buy than the F22.
JEDyer, I believe is pointing out that the F22 has abilities against advanced defensive systems that won’t be provided by the F35s that we are going to buy.
My question was whether our inventory of 180 or so F22s would be sufficient to counter those defensive systems and allow the other planes to be safely employed.
July 24th, 2009 at 10:43 pm