No More F-22s

Strip Raptor Funding from Defense Authorization Bill

June 23, 2009 

Dear Representative: 

On behalf of our combined memberships, we ask you to eliminate funding for 12 unneeded F-22 Raptor fighter jets from H.R. 2647, the FY 2010 National Defense Authorization Act.

In its markup of the authorization bill last week, the House Armed Services Committee passed an amendment sponsored by Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT) that added $369 million for 12 F-22s. In doing so, committee members indicated they would allow provincial concerns and pique with Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ budget cuts to override our national security needs as well as the interests of America’s taxpayers.  

The F-22’s relevance has been in question for nearly all of the program’s 20-year life. At more than $350 million per plane including development costs, the F-22 is currently the most expensive fighter jet ever produced, but it has never been deployed in conflict. Critics including Defense Secretary Gates—himself a Cold War intelligence analyst—call it a product of a bygone era, built for US-Soviet style dogfights rarely seen in modern wars. Further, recent reports show the F-22 is not only much more costly and time-consuming to maintain than claimed but also less effective, with a mission capable rate of only 60 percent. Yet we have already spent more than $65 billion for 187 of the planes, and both the chief of staff and secretary of the Air Force agree that the time has come for the program to end.

The $369 million included in the House amendment is only a down payment on what will ultimately cost taxpayers nearly $3 billion for planes we don’t need or want. We ask you to take a stand against wasteful weapons and support amendments that will delete this funding from the 2010 defense authorization bill.

Sincerely,