Air Force looking at larger Lockheed fighter order

Published: Aug 30, 2005
Source: yahoo.reuters.com



WASHINGTON, Aug 29 (Reuters) - U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper on Monday said arguments for restoring some Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) F/A-22 fighter jets cut from the Pentagon's 2006 budget were "making sense" to military planners.

"Quite frankly, I don't think the number's going to stay the same. I think we're making good arguments for why we need this airplane," Jumper told reporters at a final roundtable before he hands over the reins as the Air Force's top uniformed officer to Gen. Michael Moseley on Friday.

"The capability, I don't think, is being questioned any more, just the size" of the order, Jumper said, when asked about the F/A-22's fate in a once-every-four-years review of defense programs under way at the Pentagon. "I think our arguments are making sense."

The 2006 Pentagon budget called for trimming the $71 billion program -- developed during the Cold War to replace the F-15 as the top U.S. air superiority fighter -- by $10.5 billion through 2011.

Under that plan, the Air Force would get 179 fighter jets instead of the 276 now planned, and far fewer than the 381 planes the service has said it needs.continue..