The Fighter Force You Have

摘要

The F/A-22 fighter program recently swerved off the road again. Only one month into the year-long Quadrennial Defense Review, the Pentagon suddenly imposed a huge and unexpected cut. The shake-up came in late December when Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld ordered USAF to halt Raptor production in 2008 at 180 aircraft, cutting $10 billion and about 100 fighters from the program. Previous Pentagon chiefs at least waited to finish their reviews before axing the F/A-22. Rumsfeld did not. He handed down his decision on Dec. 23 in revisions to the Fiscal 2006 defense budget, providing no explanation or analysis.