Congress Using The Defense Budget To Try To Save The F-22

(MoneyWatch)  In the past due to desires to protect advanced stealth material technology and combat systems the United States' Congress has passed laws preventing the Foreign Military Sale (FMS) of the F-22 Raptor fighter aircraft. Of course that was before the Obama administration decided to end production of the aircraft causing major problems for the Boeing and many other company's workforces.

Several countries have inquired about buying the F-22 as it does represent a major leap ahead in capability and technology. Japan and Australia have been the most interested although at one time there was talk of Great Britain getting it as well. These nations have always been frustrated by the desire not to export the system.

It is now being reported that Congress will insert language into next year's defense budget legislation requiring the U.S. Air Force to do a study on the FMS potential for the aircraft. Congress often asks through legislation that the services do reports or studies as another way of getting their desires and points across. The primary motivation for this is to keep the production line going and keep people employed.

If there will be FMS of the aircraft the cases will have to come pretty quick. Other then the four included in the FY09 Supplemental there are no more F-22 aircraft planned so over the next few years the line will be winding down. The cost of restarting and certifying the production line and for all of the suppliers would be prohibitive for small F-22 FMS lots. They would most likely be small due to the great cost of the system and that Japan and Australia don't have that much money to spend.

Of course selling F-22 to allies who were probably going to buy or had already committed to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will have a negative effect on that program. The more FMS sales a program has the lower the cost to the United States military for buying them. That is why FMS is attractive.

So much more to come on this. For more posts on the F-22 see these:

Boeing's Near Term Revenue May Be Affected By Defense Budget
F-22 Potential Cancellation Affects Jobs in Connecticut