• Please take a moment and update your account profile. If you have an updated account profile with basic information on why you are on Air Warriors it will help other people respond to your posts. How do you update your profile you ask?

    Go here:

    Edit Account Details and Profile

F/A-22 a Joint Project?

Status
Not open for further replies.

KBayDog

Well-Known Member
Time for some healthy debate...

Defense Today
April 29, 2005
Pg. 1

Jumper: Make Raptor A Joint Service Program
By Richard Mullen

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper proposed that the F/A-22 Raptor fighter aircraft program could become a program operated jointly among the armed services.

That proposal raises questions about what shape the program might take under such circumstances—including its size and budget.

Jumper voiced his proposal in his closing remarks at a presentation at the Heritage Foundation conservative think tank in Washington, and did not elaborate further on the budgetary and other implications of turning the Raptor program into a joint-service operation.

However, he presented his idea after having expressed glowing praise for the Raptor during his speech and having fielded questions about plans to cut the Raptor fleet considerably below what the Air Force says it needs.

"Big programs like the F/A-22...could be joint programs" among the armed services, Jumper said in his closing remarks, in context of his arguing in favor of more joint service coordination and sharing of resources.

Whether or not the F/A-22, an Air Force program, were to become a joint program technically, "we ought to have people [from all the services] embedded in all these [big] programs" in order to represent their services' needs, Jumper said by way of clarification.

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program is joint, Jumper said, so why not the F/A-22? Both are to be Lockheed Martin Corp. products.

JSF is funded equally by the Air Force and Navy, a JSF public affairs officer said, adding that eight allied countries with an interest in JSF have contributed $4.5 billion to its system development and demonstration phase. When Lockheed, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems begin building JSFs, those nations are expected to purchase the plane, and other nations may buy them as well.

Jumper brought up the Raptor during his speech in the course of talking about the need for better integration of information resources in order to maximize their value to the warfighter.

Noting that he had ridden in an F/A-22 recently, he said that the information available to Raptor pilots is "amazing," and on par with what an AWACS plane can deliver. AWACS, or airborne warning and control system, is a highly sophisticated aircraft-borne radar surveillance system.

The Raptor's information systems "increase the situational awareness by hundreds of percents of orders of magnitude," Jumper said.

In response to a question, Jumper defended the Air Force's continued insistence that it needs 381 Raptors—far more than the Department of Defense (DOD) currently plans to buy.

The projected size of the Raptor fleet has changed many times over the course of the program, and the number continues to fluctuate. As of the current fiscal 2005, the Air Force is slated to acquire 277 Raptors. Going into the fiscal 2006 budgeting process, the Pentagon started talking about reducing the total to 179 Raptors. This week, in Senate testimony, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said the Raptor fleet now is slated to total 170 aircraft.

Jumper said the Air Force based its 381 figure on the number it needs in order to equip its air expeditionary forces, or AEFs.

The Air Force has 10 AEFs, and needs the 381 Raptors in order to equip each AEF with one Raptor squadron apiece, with sufficient extra aircraft for purposes such as training, an Air Force spokesman said.

Jumper described the AEFs as part of an organizational structure to which the Air Force has migrated in order to become a more responsive, effective force.

Recent experience, such as showdowns with Iraq's Saddam Hussein in the 1990s, showed the Air Force that it was too Cold-War-oriented and not well enough prepared to face "contingencies," Jumper said.

Then, he said, "Here comes a big contingency we call Desert Storm, and we are fairly flat-footed. We learned some ugly things about ourselves" in terms of the Air Force's ability to adjust to new situations, he said.

So the Air Force moved toward the creation of a structure around the AEF in order to gain more flexibility and adaptability of responsiveness, he said.

The Air Force tries to look at the world of the future, in terms of defense needs, he said, but as past experience has shown, "We are absolutely lousy at predicting what that world is gonna be."

What, Jumper was asked, would be the consequences if the Air Force didn't get substantially as many Raptors as it says it needs?

"The consequences of the lower number: you go back [and] look at legacy airplanes that would replace it [the Raptor]," Jumper said.

Then it becomes a question of bang for the buck, he said.

"Look at the check you'd have to write for the F/A-22," which would come in at around $110 million per plane at this stage, because DOD already has paid for the aircraft's development work, Jumper said.

However, "the check for legacy planes" such as the F-15, which would have to fill in for those unpurchased Raptors, would come in at between $75 million and $90 million apiece, Jumper said. The F-15E currently is the foremost Air Force strike fighter aircraft.

"The question is, where do you want to spend your next dollar?" he asked rhetorically.

The Raptor is "off the charts" in terms of outperforming other aircraft, he said.

The F/A-22 Raptor has been described by Lockheed Martin Corp. as a "highly lethal and survivable aircraft" that can defeat threats that the F-15 cannot handle.

Ironically, Jumper also spoke about the need for the Air Force to move away from a platform-oriented philosophy toward "an effects-based way of thinking," and then to put that thinking into action.

"You can do effects-based thinking," he said, "but if you don't get to effects-based programming, and [apply it to] how you buy things, it won't do you any good."
 
B

Blutonski816

Guest
Good God, I can imagine it now.

T.V. Narrator:"Next, on the History Channel- It was designed to fly against the Soviet Union's best equipment... It cost billions of dollars inspending over two decades to develop... only to end up as the US Air Force's biggest spending binge. Watch 'The F-22 Fiasco,' coming up next."
 

pennst8

Next guy to ask about thumbdrives gets shot.
Contributor
Well the Navy could always help them out by offering to build aircraft carriers that are 10x as large as current ones.

I mean as long as we're suggesting crazy ideas like getting the other services to bail them out on the F-22.:D
 

Brett327

Well-Known Member
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
KBayDog said:
[The Raptor's information systems "increase the situational awareness by hundreds of percents of orders of magnitude," Jumper said.
WTF kind of BS hyperbole is this? Hundreds of percents of orders of magnitude? This guy sounds like he's on crack. Seriously, though, Joint really just means, "Hey Navy, could I show you something in a late model quasi-stealth fighter?" This thing is not suited for CV ops, so the whole idea is a non-starter. I know the USMC won't bite, so I guess that leaves the Army and the Coast Guard. Joint? Please!

Good times,

Brett
 

GeoffStahl

Former E-2/FA-18 NFO
"we ought to have people [from all the services] embedded in all these [big] programs" in order to represent their services' needs, Jumper said by way of clarification.


Yeah, like maybe a tail hook? Oh yeah, how about them landing gear and wing folds, and Navy power compatibility. Hmmm, joint sure...
 

Mayday

I thought that was the recline!
This was almost predicted right here on this forum. A thread I'm too lazy to search for in which we touted the merits and feasability of the JSF program over the raptor, specifically thanks to it being a joint and combined venture.
That general must have been pushed into making that presentation by people higher upstairs than he. Wouldn't he have balked trying to prepare an almost groundless proposition?
The Navy should make a counter-offer asking the AF to buy into their CVN77 U.S.S. G.H.W. Bush. That whole thing costs about the same as what, 3.5 raptors?
 

ben4prez

Well-Known Member
pilot
Mayday said:
That general must have been pushed into making that presentation by people higher upstairs than he.

I'm not really sure how much higher you can get than the Air Force Chief of Staff, unless you count POTUS, SECDEF (both of whom are on board with RMA and reducing Raptor procurement), new CJCS (soon to be a Marine - but not technically a superior to a service chief) or SecAF (which would really be the only possibility, but again, probably on board with Rumsfeldian transformation)....

Just my .02
 

esday1

He'll dazzle you with terms like "Code Red."
I really like the idea of a Coast Guard F/A-22. I've heard the Cessnas they're using to smuggle crack into Miami are getting much more sophisticated.
Edit- maybe they could also add some sort of giant hook on the hardpoints to pick up refugees.
 

TurnandBurn55

Drinking, flying, or looking busy!!
None
ben4prez said:
I'm not really sure how much higher you can get than the Air Force Chief of Staff, unless you count POTUS, SECDEF (both of whom are on board with RMA and reducing Raptor procurement), new CJCS (soon to be a Marine - but not technically a superior to a service chief) or SecAF (which would really be the only possibility, but again, probably on board with Rumsfeldian transformation)....

Just my .02

I'm thinking something more along the lines of the AF begging for their little Raptors... the OSD balking at the numbers... AF begging... OSD saying "You guys aren't going to get the budget hike for it... you want it, either cut the cost or find another way to subsidize it"...

Which leads us to the AF COS begging for the Navy to pay for the F/"A"-22
 

KBayDog

Well-Known Member
Maybe they could benefit from some E-1 to E-3 financing, no money down, and $500 military bonus cash...
 

esday1

He'll dazzle you with terms like "Code Red."
GeoffStahl said:
"we ought to have people [from all the services] embedded in all these [big] programs" in order to represent their services' needs, Jumper said by way of clarification.

Here's how this works:
Navy, Marine, and Army JOs get sent to the AF to get coffee for the AF brass working on the FA-22.
AF, Navy, and Army JOs get sent to the Corps to get coffee for the Marine brass working on the Osprey.
so on and so forth with the littoral combat ship, future combat systems, etc...
Everyone gets a nice "joint" project, lots of funding, and all the coffee they can drink.
 

Cyclic

Behold the Big Iron
esday1 said:
with the littoral combat ship, future combat systems, etc.

Hey I have another one for you....it's called the VTUAV, google it and you'll see....well the fleet is working very hard for it as we speak...........TO SHOOT IT DOWN!!! Well, part of the program at least.
 

Aviator4000

Registered User
KBayDog said:
Time for some healthy debate...

Defense Today
April 29, 2005
Pg. 1

Jumper: Make Raptor A Joint Service Program
By Richard Mullen

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper proposed that the F/A-22 Raptor fighter aircraft program could become a program operated jointly among the armed services.

That proposal raises questions about what shape the program might take under such circumstances—including its size and budget.

Jumper voiced his proposal in his closing remarks at a presentation at the Heritage Foundation conservative think tank in Washington, and did not elaborate further on the budgetary and other implications of turning the Raptor program into a joint-service operation.

However, he presented his idea after having expressed glowing praise for the Raptor during his speech and having fielded questions about plans to cut the Raptor fleet considerably below what the Air Force says it needs.

"Big programs like the F/A-22...could be joint programs" among the armed services, Jumper said in his closing remarks, in context of his arguing in favor of more joint service coordination and sharing of resources.

Whether or not the F/A-22, an Air Force program, were to become a joint program technically, "we ought to have people [from all the services] embedded in all these [big] programs" in order to represent their services' needs, Jumper said by way of clarification.

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program is joint, Jumper said, so why not the F/A-22? Both are to be Lockheed Martin Corp. products.

JSF is funded equally by the Air Force and Navy, a JSF public affairs officer said, adding that eight allied countries with an interest in JSF have contributed $4.5 billion to its system development and demonstration phase. When Lockheed, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems begin building JSFs, those nations are expected to purchase the plane, and other nations may buy them as well.

Jumper brought up the Raptor during his speech in the course of talking about the need for better integration of information resources in order to maximize their value to the warfighter.

Noting that he had ridden in an F/A-22 recently, he said that the information available to Raptor pilots is "amazing," and on par with what an AWACS plane can deliver. AWACS, or airborne warning and control system, is a highly sophisticated aircraft-borne radar surveillance system.

The Raptor's information systems "increase the situational awareness by hundreds of percents of orders of magnitude," Jumper said.

In response to a question, Jumper defended the Air Force's continued insistence that it needs 381 Raptors—far more than the Department of Defense (DOD) currently plans to buy.

The projected size of the Raptor fleet has changed many times over the course of the program, and the number continues to fluctuate. As of the current fiscal 2005, the Air Force is slated to acquire 277 Raptors. Going into the fiscal 2006 budgeting process, the Pentagon started talking about reducing the total to 179 Raptors. This week, in Senate testimony, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said the Raptor fleet now is slated to total 170 aircraft.

Jumper said the Air Force based its 381 figure on the number it needs in order to equip its air expeditionary forces, or AEFs.

The Air Force has 10 AEFs, and needs the 381 Raptors in order to equip each AEF with one Raptor squadron apiece, with sufficient extra aircraft for purposes such as training, an Air Force spokesman said.

Jumper described the AEFs as part of an organizational structure to which the Air Force has migrated in order to become a more responsive, effective force.

Recent experience, such as showdowns with Iraq's Saddam Hussein in the 1990s, showed the Air Force that it was too Cold-War-oriented and not well enough prepared to face "contingencies," Jumper said.

Then, he said, "Here comes a big contingency we call Desert Storm, and we are fairly flat-footed. We learned some ugly things about ourselves" in terms of the Air Force's ability to adjust to new situations, he said.

So the Air Force moved toward the creation of a structure around the AEF in order to gain more flexibility and adaptability of responsiveness, he said.

The Air Force tries to look at the world of the future, in terms of defense needs, he said, but as past experience has shown, "We are absolutely lousy at predicting what that world is gonna be."

What, Jumper was asked, would be the consequences if the Air Force didn't get substantially as many Raptors as it says it needs?

"The consequences of the lower number: you go back [and] look at legacy airplanes that would replace it [the Raptor]," Jumper said.

Then it becomes a question of bang for the buck, he said.

"Look at the check you'd have to write for the F/A-22," which would come in at around $110 million per plane at this stage, because DOD already has paid for the aircraft's development work, Jumper said.

However, "the check for legacy planes" such as the F-15, which would have to fill in for those unpurchased Raptors, would come in at between $75 million and $90 million apiece, Jumper said. The F-15E currently is the foremost Air Force strike fighter aircraft.

"The question is, where do you want to spend your next dollar?" he asked rhetorically.

The Raptor is "off the charts" in terms of outperforming other aircraft, he said.

The F/A-22 Raptor has been described by Lockheed Martin Corp. as a "highly lethal and survivable aircraft" that can defeat threats that the F-15 cannot handle.

Ironically, Jumper also spoke about the need for the Air Force to move away from a platform-oriented philosophy toward "an effects-based way of thinking," and then to put that thinking into action.

"You can do effects-based thinking," he said, "but if you don't get to effects-based programming, and [apply it to] how you buy things, it won't do you any good."

Wasn't the Navy origionally in on this idea to go in on the Raptor project? I think I remember reading that the Navy bailed out back in 93. Anyway it would probably be a good idea considering the fact that the latest Russian model aircraft are more than capable of taking out a superhornet in air to air combat. Russia is more than willing to sell their technology away to other U.S. hostile countries due to their budget or lack there of.
 

Brett327

Well-Known Member
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Aviator4000 said:
Anyway it would probably be a good idea considering the fact that the latest Russian model aircraft are more than capable of taking out a superhornet in air to air combat.
Please don't make ridiculous, uninformed blanket statements like that. However well intentioned your remarks are, we don't need to go down this road again.

Keeping it real,

Brett
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top