The Wall Street Journal reports:
A House committee threw a wrench in the Obama administration's plans to end Lockheed Martin Corp.'s F-22 Raptor fighter program, voting instead to add $369 million in extra funding to keep production of the Air Force's most advanced jet alive.
Mr. Gates thinks the Air Force only needs 187 of the F-22 fighters. The White House didn't budget for additional planes beyond that level in its proposed 2010 Defense Department budget, which is currently being reviewed by Congress.
But in a showdown early on Wednesday morning, the Committee voted 31 to 30 on the extra funding amendment, which is part of its 2010 Defense Department spending bill mark up. The measure will now have to wind its way through the House and the Senate.
One of the proponents was Utah Republican Rep. Rob Bishop, who believes that 187 jets is "frighteningly low," according to a spokesman. Some lawmakers wanted to commit to buying 12 more F-22 jets, but others in the group thought that option would be too expensive. The new funding is, in effect, a down payment on 12 additional jets to be bought in the fiscal year 2011.
This is good news and it shows that resistance to the Obama administration's massive defense cuts is more substantial than what might have been apparent at first glance. The real test will come in the Senate Appropriations Committee, but this is a major victory for supporters of the F-22 program, which as recently as yesterday seemed all but dead. Whether the service actually buys 12 planes is almost irrelevant at this point, as the real struggle is just to keep the production line going so that it is possible, if necessary, to buy additional air frames for the Air Force or to design an export model for the Japanese and other close allies.
