WASHINGTON – The Senate Appropriations Committee’s defense subcommittee is considering requiring the U.S. Air Force to study the viability of creating an export version of the Lockheed Martin Corp F-22 fighter jet, a source closely following the issue told Reuters on Monday.
“There may be language inserted into the fiscal 2010 appropriations bill that would at least look at the
possibility,” said the source, who asked not to be identified since the legislative language is still being finalized.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates in April said the Pentagon would halt production of the radar-evading F-22 fighter at
187 airplanes, after ordering four more aircraft in fiscal 2009 that ends September 30.
Japan for years has expressed interest in buying two squadrons of its own F-22s, which could translate into orders
of 40 to 60 more airplanes for Lockheed, said defense analyst Loren Thompson of the Virginia-based Lexington
Institute.
Foreign sales of the F-22 fighter are banned under an amendment by House Appropriations Committee Chairman David
Obey that was passed in 1998, but recent North Korean missile launches and continued interest by Japan in buying the
F-22 may be softening congressional opposition, particularly since the Lockheed production line is now nearing a
shutdown.
Some lawmakers are concerned about the loss of tens of thousands of jobs, and are considering adding funding for
additional F-22s to the Pentagon’s fiscal 2010 budget request to keep the line running a little longer — possibly
as a “bridge” to an export version.
Thompson, an adviser to several major defense companies, said Japan had expressed a willingness to pay all the costs
of modifying the sophisticated fighter jets for export. Analysts say the bill for removing highly classified
equipment could be close to $1 billion.
Tokyo argues that it needs a fighter jet like the F-22 to deter an attack against the island nation, and says the
fighter would be particularly suited to intercept hostile missiles and aircraft in flight, or destroy them on the
ground.
North Korea’s recent missile launches have made the issue topical once again, Thompson said, and the U.S. Air Force
had recently reversed its earlier position and concluded that it would be feasible to create an export version of
the plane.
Michele Flournoy, defense undersecretary for policy, told reporters last month that possible exports of the F-22 to
close allies would be discussed during the Quadrennial Defense Review that just got underway and is due to wrap up
by late summer.
Air Force leaders have accepted Gates’ decision to halt production, but Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz last
month said the move would pose a “moderate to high risk” if the service needed to fight two wars at the same time.
Thompson said Senator Daniel Inouye, who heads the defense subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee,
supported selling the advanced air-to-air fighter jets to Japan, and was trying to work toward lifting the ban on
F-22 exports.
A spokesman for Inouye said work would not begin until mid to late June on the appropriations bill and declined to
comment on specific details.
Greg Kiley, a former aide to the Senate Armed Services Committee, said even an agreement to lift the ban would still
leave several hurdles for the F-22 production line.
From http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE55102920090602?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0