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Outside View: Why F-22 is vital -- Part 14
Washington, April 1, 2009 Fighters typically have a shorter design life than cargo or other mobility aircraft because of the g-forces imposed during training and wartime fighter maneuvers. A fighter executing a routine 3-g climb-out -- at three times the regular force of gravity -- on takeoff is enduring stress unknown to other types of aircraft. How long fighters stay in service depends primarily on how fast pilots use up the design life hours -- and what they do during those sorties. A small fleet uses up service life more quickly than the U.S. Air Force planned. The oldest Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22s delivered in the late 1990s would begin retiring just as the 2015-to-2020 threat fully emerges. A major block of about 50 F-22 Raptors that were delivered to the U.S. Air Force before 2005 would retire by 2025 to 2030. There is yet another dilemma. The smaller the fleet, the less time the U.S. Air Force has to research and develop a follow-on for the F-22. At some point, the U.S. Air Force will have to develop an F-22 replacement. A boutique fleet will burn through the F-22's service life at a rate that forces premature decisions on investment for a follow-on force. A fleet of no fewer than 250 F-22s would provide forces for conventional deterrence and allow more time to mature technologies before making a huge new investment. A strong conventional deterrent with airpower remains essential to international security. As U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in his speech to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on Oct. 28, "Let's not forget the deterrent value ... of our conventional military forces." Yet this is exactly the risk that the United States is taking with conventional deterrence. Unless the F-22 Raptor is bought in sufficient numbers, the risks to all joint forces go up and up in the years ahead. Right now, the United States has the ability to stay ahead in the conventional-deterrence game by upgrading its airpower with the unique capabilities of the F-22 Raptor. When production ceases, the door will close. It would take many years and billions of dollars to begin a new program to surpass the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor. Long before then, the United States could see its policy options cramped by the limits of its own military power. "I believe we are going to need a nuclear deterrent in this country for the remainder of this century, the 21st century," Gen. Kevin P. Chilton, head of the United States Strategic Command told the Defense Writers' Group on March 4, 2008. "So long as there are other countries in the world that possess enough nuclear weapons to destroy the United States of America and our way of life ... we will have to deter those types of countries," Gen. Chilton said. That is just as true for conventional deterrence. No one except America's enemies wants the United States locked out of surveying a developing crisis or forced to escalate when a strong, conventional airstrike option would have done the job. To fail to provide air dominance would allow other nations to deter U.S. forces and international coalitions. Within a half-decade, by some counts, other nations will build up enough lockout capability to foreclose all but very costly action. The door is already swinging shut for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and other types of early crisis response. The F-22 Raptor is a key ingredient in ensuring the kind of conventional deterrence that leaves the United States and its allies with access when they need it. It's a capability that can make other nations think twice about their antics and ambitions. To cut it short with a truncated fleet unable to cover multiple theaters or sustain its service life would strike a blow to U.S. military power for all joint forces. (Rebecca Grant, Ph.D., is a senior fellow of the Lexington Institute, a non-profit public-policy research organization based in Arlington, Va.) (United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.) Share This Article With Planet Earth
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Why The F-22 Is Vital Part 13
Arlington, Va. (UPI) Mar 31, 2009 The best place to be for evading surface-to-air missiles and moving through enemy fighters is at high altitude and high speed. Just how high and how fast depends on the threats. (United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.) |
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