Wednesday, July 22, 2009

It looks like funding for more F-22's has died.

So there will apparently be no more F-22's bought by the Air Force. Good. It's the most expensive fighter ever and has never performed as expected. Here is Steve Benen's comment.
...it's worth remembering that the F-22 is a bit of a mess. For every hour it spends in the air, it requires more than 30 hours of maintenance. One of its key problems is -- I'm not kidding -- "vulnerability to rain." After years of effort, the plane, in operational flight tests, has met only seven of its 22 "key requirements." It features a radar-absorbing canopy that tends to imprison pilots for hours. It was designed to address Cold War-era national security needs, and has flown a grand total of zero missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The only politicians who will vote for the F-22 now are those paid by the manufacturer to vote for it. America simply can't afford any more of the donation magnets which have no current or anticipated combat value.

I say this as a Fort Worth resident who will regret the job loss here. Our economy will take a hit because of this budget item disappearing. But our troops in combat will either get better support or they will get better care if they come home wounded. This is a support-the-troops move.

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