H. Thomas Hayden: More Soldiers, Not F-22s
Military news columnist
For the Global War on Terrorism and the engagements underway in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. needs another two Army divisions, increased numbers in Special Forces, and more Marines. We do not need additional F-22 Raptor fighter aircraft at this time. Also, We may not need all the Navy's nuclear submarines and some other ships that are on the Pentagon's shopping list for Christmas.
The issue is not if we need an F-22 aircraft in the future, the question is what do we need now. We need more troops to lessen the burden of increased deployments, extended overseas tours of duty, and over use of the National Guard and the Reserves.
The system is broke, and we do not need to buy more "systems" in the Global War on Terrorism.
The USAF was recently authorized an additional $2 billion on the Engineering and Manufacturing Development contract to build 22 more F-22 Raptor aircraft which now brings the number to 45 already built or under assembly. By reducing the cost of the F-22 Raptor program to half its current budget, the Pentagon could outfit two new Army divisions. The current cost estimates of the F-22 Raptor program range from $48 to $61 billion.
It has been reported that the Reserves and the National Guard are having trouble recruiting, and that National Guard officers are leaving at an alarming rate. 86,000 National Guard soldiers have served or are serving in Iraq, and a total of 142 have been killed. According to the Army, 250,000 active duty soldiers have served or are still serving in Iraq. Relative few National Guard and Reserve units served in Vietnam. Many Army support troops were called up for the Gulf War.
As long as the U.S. news media is fascinated with casualty figures, the American public continues to get a negative picture of the important mission in Iraq. Death rates seemed to be the only thing that matters to some news media.
While the F-22 Raptor is important to the future, it is not something that is needed to fight the Global War on Terrorism. However, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is one airplane that is needed. The Marine Corps' AV-8 Harrier aircraft are approaching the end of their flying life and the USAF's A-10 Warthog has long passed its prime. The F-35 is scheduled to replace the AV-8, A-10 and F-16 aircraft
The Air Force and the Marine Corps needs an aircraft that can be positioned close to the action and be able to provide close air support on short notice.
Aerospace Daily & Defense Report, December 15, 2004, reported that Air Force Chief of Staff, General John Jumper, confirmed the Air Force plans to cut the F-35, Joint Strike Fighter purchase. General Jumper told the Defense Writers Group, "I think that we will see an overall decrease in the Joint Strike Fighter total requirement."
The Lockheed Martin F-35 is reported to be more capable than the F-16 and A-10 it is designed to replace, so according to Jumper a "one-for-one replacement" will not be needed.
According to Aerospace Daily & Defense Report (AD&DR), Loren Thompson, chief operating officer at the Lexington Institute, has said that the Air Force wants to cut its purchase of the original number of Joint Strike Fighters by about one-third and the change could be reflected in the Bush Administration's fiscal 2006 defense budget request, which the White House plans to send to Congress on February 7th.
It has been reported that the Navy and Marine Corps procurements have cut their Joint Strike Fighter numbers from 1,089 jets to 680 as part of an effort to make their fighter/attack force more integrated, whatever that means.
AD&DR said that Jumper confirmed the need for the USAF plans to add the short take off and vertical landing (STOVL) variant to the Air Force's F-35 mix, saying the service intended to buy about 200 to 250 STOVLs. Jumper had previously been uncommitted on the number the Air Force would buy. The Air Force STOVL will be a modified version of the F-35 variant the Marine Corps and Navy plans to buy.
Recent news media reports indicate the Air Force plans to develop a "near-space aircraft," capable to deploy at altitudes above 65,000 feet (186 miles) to provide "persistent surveillance" for near-space all over the world.
We really need this "near-spacecraft" in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Increasing airlift, like the C-130 or C-17 transports in Iraq, would be important so ground forces could send fewer supply convoys through hostile areas. However, this would not be a problem if there were enough ground troops to conduct night ambushes and night combat patrols to protect the main supply routes.
We need more troops in our Armed Forces and it is up to the U.S. Congress to add some adult supervision to the Military/Industrial Complex and give the country what it really needs. |
