Gates Will Use Raptor As An Example In Speech Thursday
Defense Secretary
Robert M. Gates is pressing his point with Congress -- that the
Defense Department doesn't need more than 187 F-22 aircraft,
according to Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters
Wednesday. If the department is forced to buy more than it needs,
other defense needs will suffer, he said.
The American Forces Press Service reports Gates will address the
issue Thursday with the Economic Club of Chicago, where he will
point to the F-22 issue as an example of the acquisition challenges
the department faces and the reforms he is promoting.
"F-22 is just indicative of what we are facing in this
department," Morrell said. "We need to rise above narrow, parochial
interests and make decisions that are in the best interest of our
overall national security. We need to change the way we have been
conducting business in this department."
The F-22 issue, being debated on Capitol Hill, is a "vitally
important issue" to the department, and Gates is making his and
President Barack Obama's stand on the issue clear, Morrell said.
Obama has threatened to veto any bill that funds more aircraft than
the Pentagon has requested.
Robert Gates
Nobody debates the aircraft's capability, Morrell said. "This is
the best air-to-air fighter that, to date, has ever been built.
There is no denying the extraordinary capabilities of this
aircraft. What is at debate here is how many do you need of that
exquisite niche capability for the threats we face, the operations
we see ourselves conducting potentially in the future?" he said.
"And it is the unanimous belief of all the decision makers in this
building that 187 is more than enough to meet the need,
particularly when they are used in conjunction with the array of
other aircraft we will have at our disposal."
Morrell called the F-22 issue an example of the choices that
need to be made to properly fund U.S. defense. "You cannot continue
to be all things to all people," he said. "There are tradeoffs that
have to be made."
Buying more F-22s than needed will limit the military's ability
to buy other weapons systems and equipment, Morrell said. "It has
to come out of something else we do vitally need," he said.
Such tradeoffs, he said, will be "painful and detrimental to our
overall national security if we are forced to make them."