Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

Factsheet on the F/A-22 Raptor Fighter

by Christopher Hellman [contact information]

June 24, 2009

The F-22, known as the Raptor, is an air-superiority fighter intended to replace a portion of the Air Force’s fleet of F-15s. The aircraft utilizes stealth technologies and is able to cruise at supersonic speed without afterburners, thus saving fuel. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor, while Boeing (airframes) and Pratt & Whitney (engines) are major subcontractors.

The F-22 program began in the early 1980s, at which time it was known as the “Advanced Tactical Fighter.” Originally, the Air Force planned to purchase 750 aircraft at an estimated total program cost of $99 billion. In addition, the Navy planned to purchase 618 Naval Advanced Tactical Fighters (NATF). Development of the NATF was effectively terminated, however, when the Pentagon sought no funds for the program in its Fiscal Year (FY) 1992 budget request.

While the Air Force continued development and production of the F-22, repeated delays and cost growth, together with the collapse of the Soviet Union, caused a series of program restructurings and reductions in the total number of aircraft scheduled for procurement (see table below).

The current procurement plan calls for the Air Force to purchase 184 aircraft (including one non-combat developmental aircraft) at a total cost of $64.5 billion. The final lot of F-22s, which brought the total to 184, was paid for in FY 2009. Congress also appropriated funding for four more F-22s, bringing the total to 187, as part of the second FY 2009 emergency supplemental funding package for Iraq and Afghanistan.

Defense Secretary Gates Terminates the F-22 Program – On April 6, 2009, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced a list of major defense programs that would be scaled back or terminated as part of the Pentagon’s FY 2010 budget request. This included the plan to end the F-22 program at 187 aircraft as called for by the current procurement plan. Announcing the cuts, Gates emphasized that these were not budget-driven decisions. "I would have made virtually all of the decisions and recommendations announced today regardless of the department's top-line budget number," said Gates. Regarding the specific decision to terminate the F-22, Gates said “it was not a close call.”

Top Air Force Officials Oppose More F-22s – In an April 13 op-ed in the Washington Post, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz expressed their support for the decision to end the F-22 fighter program as planned. In explaining their support, Donley and Schwartz noted that because of budgetary pressures, the F-22 decision “has increasingly become a zero-sum game,” and that, therefore, “buying more F-22s means doing less of something else.”

In attempting to answer the frequently asked question – how many F-22s does the Air Force need? – Donley and Schwartz replied that “the answer, of course, depends on what we are being asked to do.” They concluded that based on constant reassessments by the Pentagon over the years, “a progressively more sophisticated mix of aircraft, weapons and networking capabilities will enable us to produce needed combat power with fewer platforms [of all kinds],” and that the 187 F-22s currently planned are sufficient.

The F-22 and Jobs – In January 2009, 44 Senators and 194 Members of the House of Representatives sent letters to President-elect Obama urging him to support continued F-22 production. According to the letters, “Over 25,000 Americans working for more than 1,000 suppliers in 44 states manufacture this aircraft. Moreover, it is estimated that another 70,000 Americans indirectly owe their jobs to this program." The Pentagon gives slightly different figures; according to Gates, current direct employment for the F-22 program is 24,000. This figure declines to 19,000 next year, and to about 13,000 in FY 2011.

Meanwhile, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (also manufactured by Lockheed Martin) program currently employs 38,000. This number grows to 64,000 next year and 82,000 in FY 2011.

A History of Cost Growth – Over its lifetime, the F-22 program has experienced significant cost growth. While the total program cost has fluctuated up and down as a result of delays, program restructuring, and changes in the total number of aircraft to be purchased, the F-22’s “per unit” costs have trended steadily upwards. “Per unit” costs are determined by taking the total program cost and dividing it by the total number of units to be procured. This figure differs (often significantly) from the procurement costs released by the Pentagon because it includes all the costs associated with the program’s acquisition phase, including costs for Research, Development, Testing and Evaluation (RDT&E), which are often substantial.

For example, recent media reporting has put the current costs of the F-22 fighter at roughly $185 million. That figure is the estimated cost of each aircraft as it rolls off the assembly line. It does not, however, accurately reflect the full burden that acquiring a particular weapon system represents to the U.S. taxpayer, which, as DOD’s most recent figures show, is $351 million.

Program/Per Unit Cost of the F-22
(Based on DOD Selected Acquisition Reports)

Reporting Date	Total Program Cost (in billions)	Number of Aircraft	Per Unit Cost (in millions)
April 1992	96.4	648	148.8
April 1994	71.6	442	162.0
April 1996	70.1	442	158.6
April 1997	70.9	440	161.0
April 1998	63.8	341	187.1
April 2000	61.9	341	181.6
December 2001	68.9	305	225.9
April 2002	69.7	341	204.5
April 2003	71.8	278	258.2
April 2004	71.7	279	256.8
April 2005	61.3	181	338.8
November 2006	62.6	185	338.4
April 2007	65.3	184	354.9
November 2008	64.5	184	350.8