United States still needs the F-22 Raptor

Gordon England blinked.

The deputy defense secretary announced last week that the Pentagon will request funding for four additional F-22 Raptors next year, backtracking ever so slightly from earlier indications that he wanted to begin phasing out production of the fifth-generation fighter after this year.

This is good news, and not just for the more than 1,800 Lockheed Martin employees who build the plane’s midfuselage at the company’s Fort Worth plant. America needs this plane, not just in theaters of combat but patrolling the skies overhead.

England’s announcement, although welcome, still falls short of what he really needs to say: “I agree with Congress and the Air Force. The F-22 is this nation’s only fifth-generation fighter in full production. Ending the program at this stage would be a boneheaded move for both defense of the homeland and our ability to dominate the airspace over our global allies, interests and deployed troops.”

OK, so no one expects England to say “boneheaded,” but that’s what he is being.

Last month, 98 federal lawmakers signed two identically worded letters to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, urging him to continue procurement of the F-22. Those letters referenced three independent studies commissioned by the department that reportedly recommended the Air Force should up its request to more than 220 Raptors.

For the record, the Air Force has said it needs 381 of these awesome war birds.

Unfortunately, England refuses to release those taxpayer-funded studies, which were conducted during the quadrennial defense review. The speculation is that the reports don’t track with the department’s standing request for 183.

F-35 Lightnings

England defends that viewpoint by saying the Pentagon should buy more F-35 Lightning IIs, which has models for three services — Air Force, Navy and Marines — rather than concentrating investments in a single service by buying more F-22s.

That kind of either/or scenario could best be described as penny-wise but pound-foolish. The United States needs both.

The F-35 is a magnificent plane. Its projected ability to carry out missions against fixed or mobile ground targets is eight times more effective than legacy aircraft. Its air-to-air combat abilities will be second only to the F-22’s.

But production on the F-35 doesn’t really crank into high gear until 2014 or 2015. The F-22 is ready to go — today.

Civilians hate to think about issues like “first-look, first-shot, first-kill” capabilities, but that’s exactly how the tools of war must be evaluated. The F-22, with its speed, maneuverability and stealth, provides just those advantages. It is the ideal first-day fighter against enemy air forces. It blows the screens off the porch and kicks down the doors on Day 1 to make sure that nothing jumps up to contest air superiority.

The anti-F-22 voices claim that the Raptor is an aircraft for yesterday’s wars — that its effectiveness in air combat and in neutralizing surface-to-air threats is irrelevant when the enemy is a militant group that uses IEDs and not airplanes and missiles to wreak havoc.

But in the zeal to respond to the tactics of today’s enemy, the United States can’t be too quick to dismiss the potential for a well-funded nation-state to turn into tomorrow’s adversary.

Russia and China are sinking lots of rubles and yuans into militarization. The Russians are expected to put their fifth-generation fighter jet, the Sukhoi T-50, into service by 2010. And they are getting an assist in the plane’s development from India. The Chinese are developing the Jianjiji 12 fighter. It’s expected to enter service around 2013.

If history is any lesson, these “allies” will be willing to sell the goods to anyone with the bucks to buy them. Americans should find no comfort in that fact that they are cozying up to the likes of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez — not exactly a fan of the United States.

One of my favorite sayings is, “If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck.” The F-22 ensures that America’s fight against any hostile air power will be very one-sided.

X Jill “J.R.” Labbe is deputy editorial page editor of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Distributed by McClatchy Newspapers.