F-22 Raptor Thread

dated
5/13/2016
(I noticed while looking for PAKFA news :)
Secretary Carter Opposes Restarting F-22 Production
Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter weighed in on the recently revived debate about the F-22, telling reporters May 12 that he is against resuming production of the stealthy fighter jet.

The Raptor, built by Lockheed Martin, was cancelled in 2009 at the insistence of then Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. At the time, Gates argued that the money required to build more aircraft would be better spent on other priorities at a time when the U.S. military was bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan fighting low-tech insurgents.

The Pentagon only procured 187 F-22s, far short of the number originally envisioned. But as China and Russia continue to modernize their forces and the Defense Department is reorienting itself to fight advanced adversaries, lawmakers have tasked the Air Force to take another look at what would be required to restart Raptor production and significantly beef up the inventory.

During a press conference following a visit to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Carter was asked about the idea being floated by members of Congress.

“I’m concerned” that it could take money away from other high priority programs, he said. “Restarting the F-22 — that’s an inefficient way to proceed. It’s not something the Air Force has recommended to me.”

The Pentagon is currently focused on improving the Raptors that it already has, he said.

“We value the F-22s we have,” Carter said. “We’re busy upgrading them and making sure that their avionics and so forth are state of the art. But we don’t need to restart the F-22 line.”
The House Armed Services Committee has asked the Air Force to produce a study on what it would take to revive the F-22 production line, which was shut down in 2012.
source:
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
 

Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
dated
5/13/2016
(I noticed while looking for PAKFA news :)
Secretary Carter Opposes Restarting F-22 Production

source:
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
Secretary Carter and the Obama administration will not have the say after January of next year.

If Trump wins...there is a good chance it may restart.

If Hillary wins...it is almost a sure thing that it will not.

Time will tell...and in Republics like the US and other western democratic republics...elections matter..
 
Last edited:

Brumby

Major
USAF warms to F-22 Raptor revival proposal
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

At a time when budget constraints are driving the US Air Force to divest fighter and attack aircraft faster than they can be replaced with the Lockheed Martin F-35, outgoing chief of staff Gen Mark Welsh says it would not be a “wild idea” to resume production of an improved version of the F-22 Raptor air superiority jet.

The Pentagon’s latest aviation inventory and funding plan says the flying branch has “insufficient resources” to maintain the 1,900 warplane level mandated by Congress beyond the current five-year budget blueprint that extends to fiscal year 2021.

The number of combat-coded fighter jets and their associated squadrons “will substantially drop” between 2022 and 2026 before hitting its lowest level in 2031 as the Fairchild Republic A-10 "Warthog" and other long-serving fighters are retired to the boneyard.

Asked about solutions to reverse this trend at an Air Force Association forum in Washington DC on 26 May, the general who flew the F-16 and A-10 says money is the main issue. America, he says, needs to decide if it wants to continue to be a globally deployed superpower in the next 20, 30 or 50 years and then fund its military accordingly.
The air force currently spends most of its aircraft procurement dollars on the F-35A multi-role fighter, Boeing KC-46A tanker and Lockheed C-130J tactical transport, but Lightning II production rates have been truncated at 48 aircraft per year through this decade, only rising to 60 copies per year in 2021 from Fort Worth, Texas. The service has no plans to buy more fourth-generation Lockheed F-16s or Boeing F-15s, and has slowed its pursuit of a sixth-generation type as it considers the best way to proceed in a tight budget environment.

One answer could be to resume Raptor production, with just 195 of those supermanoeuvrable combat planes delivered by the Lockheed, Boeing and General Dynamics F-22 industry team from Marietta, Georgia through 2012. It is powered by the Pratt & Whitney F119.

The programme was terminated by then defence secretary Robert Gates in a move described by the current head of US Air Combat Command as perhaps the “biggest mistake ever”. Until recently, Welsh and the secretary of the air force Deborah Lee James have been saying that reviving the F-22 line would be “cost-prohibitive” and a “non-starter”. Now, the air force appears to be changing its tune.

“I don’t think it’s a wild idea,” says Welsh, who notes that the air force is already working with Lockheed to figure the exact cost and the "pros and cons" of such a scheme. "I think it’s proven that the airplane is exactly what everybody hoped it would be.

“We’re using it in new and different ways. It’s been spectacularly successful and its potential is really, really remarkable,” he continues.

getasset.aspx


US Air Force

Congress is considering a provision in its fiscal year 2017 defence policy bill that would require the air force to provide a cost breakdown and even consider foreign involvement in the project by 1 January 2017, but Welsh expects an answer about the cost much sooner.

“It’s not a crazy idea,” he says. “I think you’ve heard the secretary in the past say, and the air force say, that we think it’s cost-prohibitive. We’re going back right now and looking in detail at the number.”

The F-22 was conceived in the 1980s as an advanced F-15 replacement and it first flew in 1997. The aircraft was beset by technical difficulties and costs quickly escalated as the Pentagon’s F-22 requirement dropped from 749 to 381 and finally 187 production units.

The programme was terminated in favour of other investments, such as delivering the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which the service will declare ready for combat later this year.

Asked on 24 May if investment in costly stealthy technology, which is inherent in pricey aircraft like the Northrop Grumman B-2 and Lockheed F-22 and F-35, is causing structural budget problems and forcing fighter numbers down, US Defense Department acquisition czar Frank Kendall said it was more of topline budget issue, caused by sequestration and the Budget Control Act of 2011.

“Unless something is done about the budget situation, it’s going to be very, very difficult for us to support [the American military strategy]. What we’re buying with the F-35, on a dollar-for-dollar basis, is the most combat power we can get for our dollar,” Kendall contends.

“It’s not just about the numbers, it’s about the capability. From the stories we’ve heard here from the operators about the effectiveness of the F-35 against fourth-generation aircraft were extremely impressive. Having a less expensive and less capable aircraft is not the answer to our problems.

getasset.aspx


US Air Force

Lockheed Skunk Works, which is leading the world’s largest defence contractor’s F-X efforts, has proposed upgrades to existing types like the F-22 and F-35 as the best way to achieve air superiority in the 2030s. Other combat aircraft manufacturers like Northrop Grumman and Boeing would probably prefer a competition to introduce a next-generation warplane.

Welsh suggests that an improved F-22 might be preferable and more affordable than some type of sixth-generation fighter.

“Rather than thinking of a sixth-generation fighter, can you modify the F-22 and re-open the line cheaper and keep the numbers up?” he says. “I don’t know. We’re working on that right now. We’ve got to open the spectrum a little wider about how we’re going to get the job done 20 years from now.”
AFB, an improved version of the F-22 is clearly your dream come true.
 

Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
USAF warms to F-22 Raptor revival proposal
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!


AFB, an improved version of the F-22 is clearly your dream come true.

Thank you Mr. Brumby, Air Force Chief of Staff Mark Welshes "confession" here, finally vindicates the Air Force Brat once and for all, all the talk of six gens was wishful thinking, and the Air Force is already flying the premier fighter aircraft of the 21st Century. To hear General Welsh repeat the constant refrain of the AFB, is indeed "humbling and gratifying" up front, but I pray that General Welsh and Secretary James will get out the big bats and hit a "home run out of the park", by getting this beautiful lady back in production, and back on the flight line!

As I have been reminding all, the Fifth Gen is just beginning to be "actualized" and she is a "Klingon WARBIRD!" A new and upgraded Raptor is the answer to all those who would terrorize us in the future, and our near peers are already reading the Sino Defense Forum, "don't doubt me on this"!
 

Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
Thank you Mr. Brumby, Air Force Chief of Staff Mark Welshes "confession" here, finally vindicates the Air Force Brat once and for all, all the talk of six gens was wishful thinking, and the Air Force is already flying the premier fighter aircraft of the 21st Century. To hear General Welsh repeat the constant refrain of the AFB, is indeed "humbling and gratifying" up front, but I pray that General Welsh and Secretary James will get out the big bats and hit a "home run out of the park", by getting this beautiful lady back in production, and back on the flight line!

As I have been reminding all, the Fifth Gen is just beginning to be "actualized" and she is a "Klingon WARBIRD!" A new and upgraded Raptor is the answer to all those who would terrorize us in the future, and our near peers are already reading the Sino Defense Forum, "don't doubt me on this"!

Do you hear it Mr. Brumby, the music from "Mission Impossible", do,do,do, do,do, dat, dat,dat, dat da! "and now Mr. Phelps, your MISSION, should you decide to accept??? is to post this link on DEFENSE TALK! better put Webby on as your "point man", I'm not even sure he's up to the job??? what do you think Webby??? any way, MR PHELPS/BRUMBY! your mission, should you decide to accept is to post a thread with this link on the Defense Talk forum, I will warn you NOW, that several of the MOD teams heads will explode upon reading that Air Force Chief of Staff, Gen Mark Welsh, has suggested that a new production F-22 Raptor is a more productive and viable option than pursuing a six gen asset that does NOT exist! and now Mr. Phelps/Brumby, this tape will self destruct in 30 seconds! pppppsssssssssshshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

to quote the inimmatable Hannibal Smith/AFB, " I just love it when a plan comes together", as I exhale the smoke from that fine Cuban Cigar!
 

Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
Do you hear it Mr. Brumby, the music from "Mission Impossible", do,do,do, do,do, dat, dat,dat, dat da! "and now Mr. Phelps, your MISSION, should you decide to accept??? is to post this link on DEFENSE TALK! better put Webby on as your "point man", I'm not even sure he's up to the job??? what do you think Webby??? any way, MR PHELPS/BRUMBY! your mission, should you decide to accept is to post a thread with this link on the Defense Talk forum, I will warn you NOW, that several of the MOD teams heads will explode upon reading that Air Force Chief of Staff, Gen Mark Welsh, has suggested that a new production F-22 Raptor is a more productive and viable option than pursuing a six gen asset that does NOT exist! and now Mr. Phelps/Brumby, this tape will self destruct in 30 seconds! pppppsssssssssshshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

to quote the inimmatable Hannibal Smith/AFB, " I just love it when a plan comes together", as I exhale the smoke from that fine Cuban Cigar!

For what its worth I did post a "little something" for the F-22 lovers on Defense TALK in the USAF thread??? course the usual "hounds of hell" loving response!
 
Top