F 22

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton and the Air Force defended the F-22 Raptor fighter plane yesterday amid growing signs that the House of Representatives is poised to make a dramatic cut in the $62.7 billion program.The House is scheduled to take up a $267 billion defense spending bill today that includes no money for further purchases of the F-22, which is being developed by Bethesda-based Lockheed Martin Corp.The Air Force and contractors have warned that cutting $1.8 billion requested for buying six of the planes next year will amount to a death sentence for the program.

William T. Qualler sat in a mock F-22 cockpit aboard a Boeing 757 high over the Maryland coast.The flying laboratory was testing the radar system for the new F-22 Raptor fighter jet, and Acting Secretary of the Air Force F. Whitten Peters was watching intently over Qualler's shoulder.But there was nothing to see."OK, I just lost 'em," Qualler said, searching in vain for two blips on the F-22 radar screen. "The radar went down. Doggone it. We're not giving you guys a very good show here."Qualler and other Boeing Co. technicians finally got the radar working that April morning, and Peters assured them he was not troubled by the slip.

No military program has seemed more politically invincible than the Air Force's F-22 Raptor fighter jet, but suddenly the Lockheed Martin Corp. warplane looks wounded.This week, the House of Representatives will consider cutting $1.8 billion from next year's defense budget for buying six F-22s. The House Appropriations Committee endorsed the cut Friday, setting up a debate over the future of the program and over the Air Force itself."The committee's greatest concern is that the Air Force, because of its fixation on a single solution -- that is, the F-22 -- that they have ignored and indeed almost let fall apart a whole array of [other]

Albert C. Piccirillo felt trapped. He was trying to create the world's greatest fighter jet, and his bosses at the Pentagon promised Congress the plane could be built for the bargain price of $35 million apiece."

WASHINGTON -- Leaders of both parties said yesterday that the House is prepared to cut off money to finance the Air Force's $62.7 billion F-22 fighter program, a highly unusual decision that has stunned the Pentagon and military contractors.The stage for a full House vote next week was set yesterday when the House Appropriations Committee unanimously approved a $268 billion Pentagon spending bill denying the Air Force the $1.8 billion it sought to finance six more F-22s.The cutoff is supported by Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt, a Missouri Democrat, and key Republican leaders who say the fledgling fighter is simply too expensive to build at about $200 million a plane.

The Pentagon is poised to spend $761 million to buy two F-22 fighter planes and put a down payment on six more, marking a turning point in the technologically challenging Lockheed Martin Corp. program.Testing and development of the Air Force jets are still going on, so "we view it as a vote of confidence on the part of the government to go ahead with the program," said Tom Burbage, Lockheed Martin's F-22 program manager.Defense Secretary William S. Cohen is expected to certify the purchase to Congress this week.

The Pentagon delayed for a year yesterday a decision on whether to begin producing the new F-22 stealth fighter, but said the $62 billion Lockheed Martin Corp. program is not in trouble.Undersecretary of Defense Jacques Gansler, criticized by Congress for moving too quickly on the F-22, said the Defense Department would decide on low-rate production in December 1999 instead of late this year, as scheduled, so it can examine additional test results.But he stressed that initial flight testing of the plane had gone well and that $595 million would be committed to Lockheed at the end of this year to build two additional "production representative" aircraft in 1999.

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Defense Department should hold off buying the first Lockheed Martin Corp. F-22s because testing of the jet fighter is well behind schedule, the auditing agency for Congress said yesterday.The General Accounting Office said Congress should delay for a year giving the Pentagon the $595 million it is requesting to purchase the first two F-22s, designed to be the world's most sophisticated, radar-evading plane.A delay of only one year wouldn't necessarily be a major concern for investors, said Peter Aseritis, a defense analyst for Credit Suisse First Boston.

WASHINGTON -- For the person who has everything: How about a brand-new F-22?On WMAL-AM in Washington, cheerful advertisements hawk the jet fighter during rush-hour drive time, adding sweet, tweeting-bird sound effects while likening the aircraft to a supersonic, invisible sparrow. That each F-22 will go for $192 million gets nary a mention in the 30-second spots now airing.This is the world of only-in-Washington advertising, where politically loaded sales pitches slip nonchalantly between promotions for frilly lingerie and used-car deals in the local media.

The radar-evading F-22 fighter plane managed to zip safely past Congressional budget negotiators this week, relieving Lockheed Martin Corp. officials who dreaded further cuts.But another defense project with Maryland ties -- the Arsenal Ship -- may be headed for the briny deep.Pentagon officials told budget conferees last month that the Arsenal Ship -- a missile platform -- needed $85 million for next year to stay on track. In the appropriations agreement released yesterday, the program got $35 million.