| |
 |
| November 9th, 2007 |
|
Media Contact(s): Jared Whitley (202) 224-5251 |
|
Printable Version |
|
HATCH, SENATORS URGE DOD TO BOOST FLEET OF F-22A RAPTORS
Raptors, Maintained at Hill Air Force Base, Are Key to Global Air Dominance |
| |
|
|
| Sen. Hatch examines the F/A-22 Raptor, a next-generation fighter and attack aircraft that will be maintained at Hill Air Force Base (HAFB) at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia on Feb. 14, 2005. |
Washington – Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) today led a coalition of Senators in urging the Department of Defense (DOD) to boost the fleet of F-22A Raptors in light of public reports on the increasingly advanced aircraft in development by foreign powers like Russia, India, and China. While the United States currently enjoys fair relations with these governments, there is the propensity for some, notably the Russians, to sell advanced weaponry to U.S. adversaries.
“The need for the United States to maintain global air dominance has always been one of my highest defense priorities,” Hatch said. “Public sources have stated that the DOD has commissioned three separate reports which call for the procurement of additional Raptors. We hope to convince the DOD to release the procurement conclusions of those reports.”
Joined by Republican Senators Bob Bennett (Utah), John Thune (South Dakota), James Inhofe (Oklahoma), Saxby Chambliss, and Johnny Isakson (both Georgia), Hatch sent a letter to the Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England today requesting the reports, which recommend higher procurement levels. Moreover, the Senators question the DOD’s policy of procuring only 183 Raptors, despite the Air Force’s insistence that 381 is the minimum number of the aircraft required to carry out the National Military Strategy.
“For years the Air Force has been saying that the adequate number of F-22 Raptors needed to support our nation and its interest is 381, which is the minimum number of craft required to field one full-strength squadron for each of our 10 air expeditionary forces,” Hatch said. “Despite that, for what many believe are budgetary reasons not based on the requirements of our national military strategy, the current Raptor procurement plan is only 183.”
Utah’s Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, the largest single-site employer in the state of Utah, performs depot maintenance on the F-22A.
View related PDF: 11092007f22.PDF (360.9 KBs)
|
| |
| ### |
| |
| |
| |
|
|
