Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC
US Air Force chief of staff Gen Michael Ryan says the service will have to re-examine its requirement for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) if Congress eliminates funding required to begin production of the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Ryan says: "If they take the production money out of the F-22, we will have to rethink the Joint Strike Fighter."
USAF officials warn that release of the JSF Joint Operational Requirements Document (JORD), scheduled for later this year, may have to be delayed if the House-Senate budget conference upholds the funding cut first proposed by a key House subcommittee. The JORD is the result of a lengthy process of harmonising the requirements of the USAF, US Navy, US Marine Corps and UK Royal Air Force and Royal Navy. It will form the basis of bids to be submitted next year by Boeing and Lockheed Martin for the JSF development and production phases.
Aside from the US involvement, the UK has also invested £200 million ($313 million) in the JSF programme and several other countries have ties to the project.
Any move to delay, and possibly rework, the JORD could jeopardise the JSF. While the USAF and USN could withstand a delay in the programme, the USMC's need for the aircraft is the most urgent.
The Marine Corps wants the aircraft to enter service in 2008, to replace Boeing AV-8B Harriers and F/A-18 Hornets. JSF is also the leading contender to equip a new class of Royal Navy aircraft carrier due to be operational after 2010.
The USAF argues that its requirement for an affordable attack aircraft has been predicated on the existence of the F-22 stealthy air-superiority fighter. "If you bust that [relationship], you start questioning whether the air force needs the JSF at all," Ryan says in the interview.
The service also argues that estimates of cost and risk for key elements of the JSF are based on the technology having been developed and proven for the F-22 (Flight International, 28 July -3 August). This includes the engine, as the F-22's Pratt & Whitney F119 is also used as the baseline powerplant for the JSF.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that a compromise is emerging under which initial production will be funded, but stretched to release money for other programmes.
Source: Flight International
