"Keep F-22 Program Flying,"

I've blogged about this before on Myspace.

The F-22 is a critical program that needs to be expanded not cut back.

Oh, and guess who is involoved in all of this: John F-ing Murtha (Traitor, PA).

http://www.fumento.com/weblog/archives/2009/02/keep_f22_progra.html

The Russians, Chinese, and many other nations already have many different fighters that fly circles around the 33-year-old F-15 Eagle that Raptor detractors insist we keep flying for decades more. Dogfighting aside, the latest Russian missile defense system - which will be exported everywhere including Iran - can even down ballistic missiles. The F-22 is the only fighter we have or will have, including the forthcoming F-35 Lightning II, that can effectively penetrate the Russian system. We need vastly more Raptors. Shut down the production lines and watch the U.S. become a second-rate air power.

http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htatrit/articles/20070713.aspx?comments=Y

Second F-22 Shot Down
So far, the kill ratio is about a hundred to one in favor of the F-22. The new fighter has been "shot down" in these exercises twice.

http://www.strategypage.com/dls/articles/200861214210.asp

F-22 Replaces F-117
Because of its extraordinary performance characteristics, and stealthiness, the F-22 now perform bombing missions previously taken care of by the F117. The most dangerous of these involves attacks on enemy air defense systems. Once those defenses are damaged, less stealthy aircraft can go in with less risk of getting shot down. The F-22 is also the most effective air-to-air fighter available.

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=defense&id=news/MURTHA100808.xml

Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, thinks the F-22 Raptor will “fall by the wayside,” as will the C-17 cargo lifter.
In an Oct. 5 interview with a Washington, D.C., television program, Murtha said that no matter who wins the White House, weapons systems programs are going to face stiff competition from demands to restore equipment depleted by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, expand the size of the Army and Marine Corps and increase nonmilitary spending on social programs such as health care.

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSN1226363220080212

But the head of a House of Representatives panel that funds the U.S. military said Tuesday he opposed shutting down the F-22 line.
"We don't want to see the F-22 line shut down," Rep. John Murtha, chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on defense, said in an interview after speaking at a defense technology conference sponsored by Aviation Week magazine.
Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democract, said he also opposed shutting down the Boeing C-17 cargo aircraft production line, another decision left in the lurch by President George Bush's fiscal 2009 budget plan, which Congress may now rework.