.
Look like more last minutes "smooth talking " from Amerians
Tired of seeing Sg getting " PROVEN " equipment. 
Boeing's F-15 tries to stay aloft
By Tim McLaughlin
Of the Post-Dispatch
Sunday, Jul. 31 2005
Boeing Co.'s St. Louis-made F-15 Eagle used to be the sure thing of
fighter jet
procurement. Now the aging fighter is just a long shot in its own
country.
Jim Albaugh, chief executive of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems,
says the
odds are against the U.S. Air Force signing a multiyear deal to buy
more F-15s.
That assessment isn't surprising as the Pentagon prepares to spend
billions of
dollars over the next few decades for the F/A-22 Raptor and F-35
Joint Strike
Fighter, two planes under development by Lockheed Martin
Corp.
Still, some influential members of Congress say the Air Force needs
a hedge
against production delays or cost overruns. They believe the F-15
can play an
important role in keeping the country's dwindling inventory of
fighter jets at
a healthy level during the transition to the Raptor and JSF.
One potential scenario has the Air Force buying anywhere from 100
to 144 F-15s
as insurance against a slip in the JSF program, according to people
familiar
with informal discussions that started about two years ago.
That would be a boon for the F-15 program. Production of the
storied combat
plane will end in 2008, unless Boeing wins more orders. St. Louis
defense
workers have made more than 1,500 of the F-15s. The first F-15A
flight was made
in 1972.
Currently, the most hopeful market for more F-15s is Singapore,
which could
make a decision as early as next month on whether to take the
Boeing plane or a
French-made fighter in a competition worth an estimated $1
billion.
Albaugh, meanwhile, isn't raising hopes for any big orders from the
U.S. Air
Force.
"Oh, I think that would be kind of a long shot," Albaugh told the
Post-Dispatch
in a telephone interview last week. "Obviously, that depends on our
customer
and what they want to do. Right now, I think that's a real long
shot. But I
think there's an opportunity for us to extend the F-15 line by
winning the
competition in Singapore. I think there's an opportunity to get
some additional
airplanes in Korea. And it would always be nice to have a warm
production line
in the event our U.S. customers decide they want some more."
If more F-15s are ordered, Boeing would be able to deliver them at
whatever
build rate is desired by the U.S. Air Force, Boeing said in a
statement earlier
this month.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services
Committee,
suggested that Air Force fighter procurement needs a boost,
especially in the
early years of Raptor and JSF production.
"There's only one alternative," Hunter said at a committee hearing
earlier this
month. "And that's to bridge that gap between that little bitty
inventory of
aircraft that we're going to have in the future of (Raptors) and
Joint Strike
Fighters, and that would be to produce more F-15s and F-16s."
Hunter is worried the Pentagon may be writing off the F-15 and F-16
too
quickly.
"Would we not need to maintain production on those two aircraft
well into the
future, even as those lines, at least with the F-15, are going cold
here
shortly?" he asked at a committee hearing that included Lt. Gen.
Stephen G.
Wood, the Air Force's deputy chief of staff for plans and programs.
"... I
don't see another answer."
The Pentagon's current Quadrennial Defense Review will help answer
questions
about the future of the F-15 as military leaders discuss fighter
jet force
requirements. But Wood made it clear at the House Armed Services
Committee
hearing that the F-15 won't be at the forefront of those
discussions.
The Air Force will push hard on "articulating the importance" of
the Raptor,
for example. The Bush administration's defense budget sharply
reduced planned
deliveries of the Raptor to 179 planes. The Air Force's stated goal
calls for
getting 381.
When Hunter asked Wood if there's a need to have bridge production
of F-15
aircraft, the general said he couldn't rule it out, especially when
you assess
the uncertainties that come with developing new fighter jets.
"If we can't get more (Raptors) and we have significant slips in
the (Joint
Strike Fighter) program, we're going to have to continue to look at
bridging
that, and it's very viable to look into other aircraft," the
general said.
"But, sir, I would tell you that we're working very hard in the
Quadrennial
Defense Review to make the case that the nation needs 381 (Raptors)
and to keep
that line going."
Reporter Tim McLaughlin
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 314-340-8206
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/story/F386B1BFEFD9B4628625704E00320F3E?OpenDocument
