The 2010 U.S. defense budgetSenators urges Gates to continue production of Stealth fighter

There are many things which any administration would find difficult to do, but there no dispute that at the top of the list would be the closure of military bases or the discontinuation of weapon production programs. At times the reasons have to do with genuine differences over what the country’s defense needs are; at other times the reasons have to do with jobs and the economy back in the home district; at times the two combine. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’s ambitious effort to move the U.S. military from being a heavy outfit with gold-plated weapon systems planning to fight major conventional wars to a nimble, light organization more capable of fighting insurgents was going to meet stiff opposition, and such opposition is beginning to form in Congress.

Utah’s senators have joined a bipartisan group fighting to save a fighter jet and a massive transport plane that Defense Secretary Robert Gates has placed on the chopping block. Their opposition — outlined in a letter sent to Gates on Tuesday — underscores the political challenge the Obama administration faces as it seeks to cut weapons systems it believes are too costly, duplicative or unnecessary.

Salt Lake Tribune’s Matt Canham writes that Utah Senator Orrin Hatch drafted the letter, which asks Gates to recommend the continued production of the F-22 Raptor and the C-17 Globemaster until at least a 2010 military review could determine if they are still valuable. A total of 14 senators signed Hatch’s letter, including four Democrats. The letter states they want “to ensure the security of the American people by providing for a strong national defense.”

It is also hard to ignore, though, that the signatories come from states with strong financial ties to the aircraft. Both Texas senators signed the letter. About 1,700 people work in a Fort Worth, Texas, plant that builds one-third of the F-22’s fuselage. Georgia’s senators signed the letter. They hail from the state that assembles the F-22. Both Hatch and Utah Senator Bob Bennett are opposing Gates on this issue. A small group of Hill Air Force Base employees helps maintain the F-22, and several Utah defense contractors provide parts for both the fighter and the C-17 transport plane.

Many members of Congress have some interest in seeing the military continue to buy these aircraft because many states have some business that contribute to their production. More than 40 states have some piece of the F-22. Gates argues, however, that the 180 F-22’s already in the U.S. arsenal are enough, despite earlier military studies that calls for about 240 of the stealth fighters. Backed by President Barack Obama, Gates wants to focus more on fighting insurgent forces such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Hatch argues in the letter that the Defense Department needs to do both and that cutting these planes may make the nation more vulnerable in a traditional war. “The nation requires a ‘full spectrum’ force,” he said. “A force that is equally capable of defeating insurgents as it is in maintaining our hegemony of the skies.”