Report sees meager savings on F-22 jet deal

Posted on: May. 17th, 2006 || Source: today.reuters.com | E-mail Article | Print Article

WASHINGTON, May 16 (Reuters) - A multiyear agreement to buy the final 60 Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) F-22 fighter jets would save less than half of the $500 million promised by the Air Force, according to an independent report commissioned by the service.

The Pentagon has spent two decades developing the radar-evading F-22 fighter or "Raptor" at a cost of $62.6 billion. U.S. lawmakers have criticized a Pentagon plan to pay for the last 60 of 183 planes incrementally over several years, ostensibly to save money, and to sign a multiyear contract with Lockheed.

The Institute for Defense Analyses in April released preliminary data which estimated savings of just 2.2 percent, or over $230 million, Lt. Gen. Donald Hoffman, the Air Force's top military acquisition official, told the Senate Armed Services Committee in a written statement obtained by Reuters on Tuesday.

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