AF ready for F-22 export version

[squeezeandcrush777]

I read when i came to the site today there are talks of selling a version of the F-22 to foreign countries. We have the most powerful aircrafts in the world. If everybody else acquires 22's and down the line 35's.... what would seperate our Air Force from there's?

[hcshawk]

Originally Posted by squeezeandcrush777

I read when i came to the site today there are talks of selling a version of the F-22 to foreign countries. We have the most powerful aircrafts in the world. If everybody else acquires 22's and down the line 35's.... what would seperate our Air Force from there's?

The fact that we don't give them OUR version of the weaponry systems with it. Think about it this way...the US will have the Eddie Bauer version, and they will get the XL version.

And by the way...the JSF (F-35) is called the Joint Strike Fighter. It was intended to be a multi-national aircraft.

[FLAPS]

The lawmakers who support selling F22s overseas are interested in only one thing, and that's keeping the production line (and associated parts manufacturers) in business....which in turn provides jobs in their states/districts, which makes them popular and gets them re-elected.

[ramprat]

Originally Posted by FLAPS

The lawmakers who support selling F22s overseas are interested in only one thing, and that's keeping the production line (and associated parts manufacturers) in business....which in turn provides jobs in their states/districts, which makes them popular and gets them re-elected.

1 true Look at F-15 and F16 production history.
2 Gives ret mil somewhere to hang their hats.

[ramprat]

Originally Posted by ramprat

1 true Look at F-15 and F16 production history.
2 Gives ret mil somewhere to hang their hats.

And sometimes it goes something like this::
A foreign country cant afford the aircraft,,,so uncle sugar lends them the money
yrs later they cant repay the debt to uncle sugar so he forgives the dept.
Get it ? A form of workfare,and nothing new.

[LOAL-D]

Originally Posted by ramprat

And sometimes it goes something like this::
A foreign country cant afford the aircraft,,,so uncle sugar lends them the money
yrs later they cant repay the debt to uncle sugar so he forgives the dept.
Get it ? A form of workfare,and nothing new.

Yep, happens more than people realize.........

and you didn't even talk about manufacturing component parts across 50 states to give each Sen or Rep's district a piece of Uncle Sugars pie...

[squeezeandcrush777]

Originally Posted by hcshawk

The fact that we don't give them OUR version of the weaponry systems with it. Think about it this way...the US will have the Eddie Bauer version, and they will get the XL version.

And by the way...the JSF (F-35) is called the Joint Strike Fighter. It was intended to be a multi-national aircraft.

]


lol good point, but it still will be a stealth fighter, weapons or not, we have a plane that cant be seen, and they will too, so who's to say this technology wont end up in the wrong hands? and yea i know what the jsf is called, but im pretty sure everybody else knows what i mean when i say the 35...

[Gunner7]

Originally Posted by ramprat

And sometimes it goes something like this::
A foreign country cant afford the aircraft,,,so uncle sugar lends them the money
yrs later they cant repay the debt to uncle sugar so he forgives the dept.
Get it ? A form of workfare,and nothing new.

The only way to ensure air superiority over emerging threats is to deploy our aquisition process overseas. I am pretty sure that if we get the right contractors involved any new threats will spend decades on the drafting table while the vendors fight for cash. Our latest weapon: AQ-X

[Gunner007]

Originally Posted by squeezeandcrush777

I read when i came to the site today there are talks of selling a version of the F-22 to foreign countries. We have the most powerful aircrafts in the world. If everybody else acquires 22's and down the line 35's.... what would seperate our Air Force from there's?

The asses that are in the iron! If Israel has F-22's and can hold off Iran and Syria at the same time, we dont have to worry about our asses being wrapped up in the fight. If S. Korea has 22's & 35's and can defend themselves we can draw down more troops, hell maybe eventually pull out completely!

Then there is the fact that the more of them bought, the lower the price per unit is. That means we can save US tax dollars because they become cheaper per unit. We get the AC we want cheaper than if we hadnt let the allies have them and we can let those allies have enough muscle that maybe we wont have to fight their battles for them.

Of course i would hope we are smart enough to ensure that only our most reliable allies have access to that option and not let someone like France buy them and then sell them to USSR or China to reverse engineer.

[CommunityEditor]

The chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee wants to explore selling an export version of the F-22 Raptor to foreign allies.

In a June 4 hearing before the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee, Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, told Air Force leaders to get ready for questions he plans to ask about creating a version of the Raptor that would win U.S. clearance for foreign military sales.

In an interview after the hearing, Inouye said representatives of the Japanese government had contacted him asking for the information.

“I’m looking at it to see what the best deal for us is,” Inouye said. “I want to inquire as to what [the Air Force] thinks of an export version.”

Japan has long sought to include the advanced stealth fighter in its aircraft inventory, and the Australian government also has expressed interest in the F-22.

A federal prohibition against foreign military sales of the F-22 — aimed at keeping sensitive military technology from hostile governments — stands in the way of both countries acquiring the Raptor.

Japan has said it would spend the estimated $1 billion it would cost to convert the current F-22 line to produce a version for foreign military sales, said defense analyst Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute.

The $140 million F-22 is one of six potential contenders — including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter — to replace Japan’s aging fleet of F-4s.

In April, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the F-22 line would be shut down and the program capped at 187 fighters. The following month, Gates told Japanese defense officials the country should look at the F-35 as a replacement fighter instead of the F-22, according to Japanese media reports.

Thompson said the F-22 has emerged as a more likely option because it would cost less and would be available sooner. North Korea’s recent missile launch has provided more U.S. sympathy toward Japan acquiring new fighters, he said.

“North Korea seems to be going out of its way to prove Japan needs cutting-edge military technology,” Thompson said.

Japan is considering a buy of 40 to 60 planes, if it can get approval, he said.

Mackenzie Eaglen, an analyst with the Heritage Foundation, said a version of the Raptor for foreign military sales would protect thousands of jobs and the defense-industrial base.

“It reduces the cost per unit. Everybody wins,” she said.

One F-22 skeptic, however, said Japan should not invest its defense funds in the Raptor. Winslow Wheeler, an analyst with the Center for Defense Information, has long said the F-22 is more expensive and less capable than the Air Force or manufacturer Lockheed Martin claims.

“None of it makes a slightest bit of sense. It just strikes me as inane that anybody would be interested in buying that thing,” Wheeler said.


Article: http://www.militarytimes.com/news/20...ns_f22_060509/