How Much is Too Much?

According to a recent article in the New York Times, the Pentagon has told the White House and Congress that it plans to cut the Air Force’s program for the most expensive fighter jet in history, the F/A 22 Raptor, in an effort to reduce the mounting deficits and growing costs of the war in Iraq.

The White House is under pressure, from both sides of the aisle, to trim deficits. The cost of operations in Iraq alone is running over $4 billion a month.

The cost of a Raptor fighter would be about $258 million per plane based on an overall cost of $71.8 billion for the program, and the Air Force’s plan to buy 277 Raptors. According to one leading industry analyst, the program could be killed after producing about 160 aircraft, possibly saving a total of more than $15 billion but perhaps more than doubling the cost per plane. If indeed the number of planes is reduced to 160, the cost per plane could rise to over a half billion. The pentagon has already spent nearly $40 billion to develop the aircraft, which is now coming into production. These expenditures promise to be a major point of contention in the next Congress, as well they should.

To put the cost of these aircraft into perspective, the United States has so far pledged $350 million to aid the five million people devastated by the Indian Ocean tsunamis — that’s little more (or less) than the cost of one F/A 22 Raptor.

Paul G. Jaehnert 808 Bur Oak Ct. Vadnais Hts., MN 55127

phone: (651) 407-0754