Lockheed Martin would support restarting the F-22
Raptor production line if Republican Presidential
candidate Mitt Romney were to be elected and
followed through with a pledge to buy more of the
stealthy fifth-generation fighters.


"Lockheed Martin will support the US government
should the decision be made that more F-22
Raptors are needed to defend our nation and our
allies," the company says.


Earlier in the week, Romney had told a Virginia
television station that he not only opposed the
Congressional sequestration budget cutting
maneuver set to go into effect on 2 January, but
that he would increase the size of the US military.


"I would also add F-22s to our air force fleet,"
Romney says.
The so-called sequestration maneuver would cut
the defence budget by a further $500 billion over
the next ten years.


Production of the twin-engined F-22 came to an
end earlier this year with the last of 187 aircraft
ordered being delivered to the US Air Force on 2
May. But the tooling and techniques to build the
Raptor are being preserved at the Sierra Army
Depot in California.
The USAF had originally wanted some 750 Raptors,
but due to the post-Cold War drawdown had
reduced its requirements. But, prior to then-
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates truncating the
programme, the USAF maintained that it needed a
minimum of 381 Raptors to fill 10 operational
squadrons consisting of 24 primary authorized
aircraft and two back up jets. The remaining F-22s
would fill out training and test units.
Analysts are skeptical about Romney's plans.


"Romney has big if vague plans, but very little
guidance on how to pay for it," says analyst
Richard Aboulafia of the Teal Group. "If he wants
to keep taxes and the deficit at a constant or lower
level, it's hard to imagine cuts elsewhere providing
the cash."


Loren Thompson, chief operating officer at the
Lexington Institute and a Lockheed consultant,
says restarting the production line would be very
expensive. "I think it would be more than a billion
dollars, frankly," he says.
"You can't just go back and see if the suppliers are
still available," Thompson says. "They all have to
be recertified. The workers will have been moved
on to other activities for the most part, they will
have to be recertified, and in some cases,
retrained."
Nor is it likely that if the production line were to be
reconstituted that the new Raptors would match
the configuration of the surviving 185 F-22s in
service with the USAF today. While the Raptor's
kinematic performance and stealth are unmatched,
compared to the leading edge of technology that
industry can build today, the Raptor's avionics
architecture and sensors are dated, Thompson
says. The USAF would likely need to invest in some
significant upgrades for those new production jets,
should they materialize.
Moreover, the USAF may not be willing to
jeopardize the tri-service Lockheed F-35
programme in order to buy only a limited number
of extra Raptors.

"If the air force thought that the
proposal to buy a hundred more F-22s would in
anyway slow down the F-35 programme, they
would not support it," Thompson says.
The F-35 is set to become the mainstay of the
USAF tactical fighter force. The USAF hopes a
future force of 1763 F-35s will eventually replace its
Lockheed F-16 and Fairchild Republic A-10 fleets.


[url]www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/lockheed-would-support-restarting-f-22-production-line-if-romney-wins-election-376428/[/url]

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democrats win = no additional raptor, republicans win = additional raptor....

your guess???