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"Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Saturday he would buy more F-22 Raptors as part of his plan to reverse many of the defense cuts planned by the Obama administration...Nuno Gomes brought this to my attention.
'Rather than completing nine ships per year, I’d move that up to 15. I’d also add F-22s to our Air Force fleet. And I’d add about 100,000 active duty personnel to our military team,' Romney said in the interview. “I think the idea of shrinking our military to try and get closer to balancing our budget is the wrong place to look...
Air Force leaders pushed to build more F-22s to add to the fleet because they warned a fleet of 187 would be insufficient to defeat an enemy with a top line air force like China. Former Air Force Chief of Staffs Gen. Norton Schwartz and Gen. Michael “Buzz” Moseley argued the costs of re-opening the production line would be too costly to build up the fleet if Congress changed its mind and wanted more F-22s..."
Quite honestly this just ain't gonna happen. His own party won't allow it. Many people have listed the Tea Party as a bunch of right wing extremist. What the Tea Party started out as was a group of people that were concerned about the fiscal mess of this nation.
They didn't give a rats ass about social issues.
All they were concerned about was the rising budget deficit.
The Republican Party has coerced that movement and turned it back toward the petty issues that really don't belong in the government sphere....why they did that I don't know but they did. If Romney is elected he'll be facing the same budget drama that Obama will.
And regardless of who wins they'll face a House that is filled with pure Tea Party Representatives that won't want to bust the budget.
The next reason why Romney is blowing smoke on this issue is that the US has been at war for 10 years.
Again. Regardless of who wins, the American people are going to demand their peace dividend. The Pentagon's budget will get cut.
Its gonna happen and ain't shit anyone can do about it.
Off topic but that's why I'm so pissed by Marine Corps leadership. I seriously doubt that we'll see needed Marine armor purchased. Between poor planning that allowed our weapons systems to go obsolete at the same time to the air wing gobbling up all available funds to stupid purchases like $50 dollar rifle slings the Marine Corps is screwed. We'll get the F-35...so will the Air Force but that's because we have the protection of allies.
The F-22 won't go back into production. The only thing that will keep the F-35 line going in future years is if our allies stay committed. Only recently have I seen how clever Sweetman and company's campaign was in going after our allies when it came to the F-35. They're the glue that's keeping this program running.
And even if the F-35 dies all we'll see is increased upgrades to existing airplanes. And still no F-22 back in production.
"Former Air Force Chief of Staffs Gen. Norton Schwartz and Gen. Michael “Buzz” Moseley argued the costs of re-opening the production line would be too costly to build up the fleet if Congress changed its mind and wanted more F-22s..."
ReplyDeleteExcept the builders spent a sizable chunk of cash to ensure there WONT be any large costs to restart the lines.
They recorded thousands of hours of video footage to ensure any new staff have a huge library of educational material
Sorta kinda maybe. They also put all the toolings and jigs into storage. All that was done to make it easier to produce new parts or major sub assemblies for repairs or future upgrades. It really wasn't done to totally reopen the production line, and it would still take a good amount of money to do.
DeleteThe dream is to get through this mess we can get a new run, maybe add some F-35 bits and make it an F-22B. In reality and much more likely, the AF asks to put the money towards the new long-range strike aircraft.
I think we've finally gotten to the point where the F-35 is going to happen--how many is still a question, but we'll get some.
I think aircraft based on the F-15I/SE and F-16I/Block 60 would be a reasonable buy for the ANG/Reserves. I'd use them to replace the remaining F-15Cs, and whatever F-16Cs that won't be converted to F-35s. I'd also use the new F-15/F-16 to replace what we've lost to the "iron flow" the last ten years. I doubt it will happen.
If Romney makes it to prez and allows export for F22's we could be looking at exporting 100+ copies. Japan, Israel, Australia, SK would all be signing up. Also, according to a report I saw it will only take about $200m to reopen the F22 line. If we are able to export to allies and build an up to date version it will greatly lower the cost of the plane and make serious cut backs on F35A version.
ReplyDelete