Analyst: Independent U.S. study calls for more F-22s

Posted on: Apr. 25th, 2006 || Source: aimpoints.hq.af.mil | E-mail Article | Print Article

Analyst: Independent U.S. study calls for more F-22s

WASHINGTON, April 24 (Reuters) - A study that was to help cut the size of the U.S. fighter jet fleet instead concluded that the U.S. military needs at least 40 more Lockheed Martin Corp. F-22 fighter jets, defense analyst Loren Thompson said on Monday.

Defense Secretary Gordon England last August commissioned the Virginia-based consulting group Whitney, Bradley & Brown to identify ways to trim the number of tactical aircraft operated by the various military services.

As Navy Secretary, England commissioned a similar study by the same firm, which led to a merger of the aviation commands of the Navy and Marine Corps, and cut more than 400 aircraft from the Navy's purchase of Lockheed Joint Strike Fighters.

Thompson, chief operating officer of the Virginia-based Lexington Institute, said senior government officials and industry executives told him the new study recommended between 220 and 260 radar-evading F-22 "Raptors." That is above the 183 aircraft now planned in the Pentagon's budget.

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