Washington battles over costly F-22 jet

Published: Tue Sep 12th, 2006
Source: www.iht.com



NEW YORK The F-22 fighter jet, now being delivered to Air Force bases around the country, is the Maserati of the skies. Intended to take on a military opponent that no longer exists - the Soviet Union - it has a cruising speed of Mach 2, twice the speed of sound; its top speed is a Pentagon secret. And with radar-evading stealth technology, it can attack its enemies almost invisibly.

But the F-22's only real battles these days are taking place in the corridors of power in Washington. F-22 supporters have been taking on the Bush administration and Washington budget-cutters who want to limit production to 183 planes because the cost to taxpayers has risen to $350 million per plane.

But the Air Force and Lockheed Martin, the plane's maker, arguing that the plane provides global aerial dominance, say they need to build more F-22s, potentially hundreds more. And that is why they have gone around their ostensible bosses in the Pentagon and White House to push Congress to open the door so they can sell more of them.
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