Schwartz to ask Gates for more F-22s soon - Military News | News From Afghanistan, Iraq And Around The World - Military Times

Schwartz to ask Gates for more F-22s soon

Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz told reporters Tuesday that he will ask Defense Secretary Robert Gates in the next couple of weeks for more F-22 Raptors than the 183 approved by Congress, but he wouldn’t disclose the final number.

Congress set a deadline of March 1 for President Barack Obama’s administration to decide whether to purchase more F-22s beyond the 183 already approved. The Air Force originally requested 381 of the stealth, fifth-generation fighter jets, but that number has dropped.

“It’s less than 381,” Schwartz said.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen said in December that he and Schwartz had talked about buying 60 more F-22s, which would bring the total to 243. Schwartz said Tuesday that he “wouldn’t dispute Admiral Mullen’s characterization.”

“But as I indicated, I have yet to discuss this with the secretary of defense, and I think it would be appropriate that I share my military advice with him first before doing so publicly,” Schwartz said.

F-22s cost about $150 million apiece and have been scrutinized for not contributing to the irregular wars the U.S. faces in Iraq and Afghanistan. But Air Force generals have said the current buy of 183 F-22s is too small, especially considering that only 100 could be available for combat at one time because of maintenance rates.

Lockheed Martin’s production line in Marietta, Ga., could be shut down if more F-22s are not ordered. Gates added funding for four more F-22s to last year’s supplemental budget to keep the line open after he chose to pass the decision on its future to Obama’s administration.

The Pentagon’s chief weapons buyer, John Young, said in November that another $8 billion will be needed to upgrade the current fleet of Raptors. He described the stealth fighter’s mission capability rate of 62 percent as “troubling,” and he said it was “proving very expensive to operate.”

Schwartz defended the F-22’s mission capability rate Tuesday, saying that the F-22’s performance has been “respectable” compared to other stealth aircraft such as the B-2 and F-117.

He acknowledged that his F-22 request will face scrutiny but said that lowering it from 381 should not be seen as a “sign of weakness.”

“I think it’s the sign of a healthy institution that we’re willing to revisit long-held beliefs no matter how central to our ethos they may be,” Schwartz said.