From CNN.com: Senate rejects additional F-22 funding
The Senate voted Tuesday to block expansion of one of the country’s most controversial and expensive defense programs, the F-22 fighter jet program.
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With the F-22 being manufactured in or getting supplies from 44 different states, the plane gets broad support from congressmen and senators on both sides of the aisle.
That’s the problem with defense programs. Once started, they are almost impossible to kill.
Senators on both sides of the aisle fought to keep the F-22 in production to protect jobs in their states even though the Pentagon wants to halt the program.
For changes to happen, Senators must not just serve their State, but to serve the best interests of the United States on whole.
2 Comments
What is not mentioned here are the capabilities of Russian aircraft, such as the SU-37 Terminator and SU-47 Berkut. As Russia continues its close ties to China and other nations that could pose a serious threat to the United States in the future, we have to wonder if Russia is the only country with these super fighters. The F-35 lacks the stealth, maneuvering, and speed capabilities of the F-22. Cheaper means you get less. We are the United States of America. Are we willing to settle for something less than the best we are capable of? Unfortanutley, that has been answered with an Executive-level Yes.
The United States already has 141 F-22 Raptors. According to wikipedia, the Russians have 2 SU-37’s and 1 SU-47 and I doubt that they’ll be giving them to China any time soon. China is likely to be a rival of Russia just as much as it is a rival of the U.S. And we don’t even sell the F-22 to our allies.
We’re currently spending billions of dollars on two wars and the F-22 has not been used a single time. Most of the F-22 Senate allies are supporting it for jobs, not for threats against U.S. air superiority.