Issue Brief #3
March 13, 2001
F-22X:
The
Key to Negating Anti-Access
Threats
General John P. Jumper, Commander of Air Combat Command, recently unveiled the Air Force’s Global Strike Task Force (GSTF), a leading edge concept that will “kick down the door” and push back advanced enemy Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAMs) and other anti-access systems to create room for U.S. “persistence forces.” Although General Jumper’s plan is sound, and well designed for our future politico-military environment, current plans for the GSTF’s centerpiece – the F-22 – will fall short if we buy too few of these aircraft and don’t equip them with the best SAM killing air-to-ground technology.
The F-22 Raptor needs to be purchased in quantities adequate to meet national needs. Original plans for the F-22 called for a force of 750 aircraft, but arbitrary budget compromises reduced the number to 339. Returning to the original number of 750 F-22s would have four benefits. First, 750 F-22s would give the GSTF concept real teeth, by equipping each of the Air Force’s ten Aerospace Expeditionary Forces (AEFs) with two squadrons of 24 aircraft, providing the continuous enabling force every CINC requires without over-tasking our airmen. Second, a 750 aircraft buy would slash the F-22’s flyaway cost to about $74 million per aircraft – about the same cost as an F-15. Third, by purchasing enough F-22s to adequately outfit all 10 AEFs, the Air Force could reallocate its F-16 Block 50 aircraft to Guard and Reserve forces, and retire the F-117 and F-15, effectively replacing three airframes with one. Finally, if the Air Force were allowed to buy 750 F-22s, it could afford to incorporate generation skipping air-to-ground technology into this already advanced fighter.
Under current plans, the F-22 depends on ground targeting and identification information from other platforms – such as JSTARS – to attack mobile SAMs. This dependence lengthens targeting timelines against mobile SAMs and makes the destruction of enemy air defense more challenging. However, if the F-22 program had the funds from a 750- platform buy, it could afford to incorporate synthetic aperture radar (SAR). This off the shelf avionics technology would give the F-22 the ability to single handedly find and fix a target location, and also determine target identification. Armed with eight small diameter bombs, carried internally, this F-22X could effectively “kick down the door” and provide an all-encompassing Air Dominance capability.
I am certain that the asymmetric, anti-access threat of advanced SAMs will be acknowledged in President Bush’s Defense Strategy. Current U.S. electronic warfare (EW) assets are struggling to keep up with the antique SAM systems (SA-2, SA-3, SA-6) seen in Kosovo, let alone new state-of-the-art systems. Congress and the Services must work together to extend our airpower advantage well into the 21st Century by negating these affordable asymmetric threats. Ensuring access to the battlespace is a cross-service issue and GSTF is capable of providing that access if we provide the necessary resources to get the job done. Funding 750 F-22Xs will guarantee unimpeded access for follow-on air and land forces and ensure our aerospace dominance into the future.
Jim
Gibbons
Member of Congress
Electronic Warfare Working Group
Congressman Joe Pitts, Founder and Co-Chairman
420 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202 225-2411 phone 
202 225-2013 fax