AIR FORCE AIMS TO RETIRE CRAFT EARLY JOBS COULD BE LOST ON FIGHTER, SPY PLANE.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

PALMDALE - The Pentagon is proposing to speed up retirement of the F-117A stealth fighter and the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft in two programs that employ Lockheed Martin workers in Palmdale.

Stating that other aircraft that can handle their missions, Defense Department officials are looking to save about $2 billion by retiring all 52 F-117s in 2008 and the U-2s by 2011. The proposal was included in a document, titled ``Budget Program Decision 720,'' that was drawn up for the president's fiscal year 2007 budget.

``The Air Force proposal accelerates the retirement of the aging F-117,'' the document authors wrote, from fiscal year 2008 to fiscal year 2011. ``There are other more capable Air Force assets that can provide low-observable, precision-penetrating weapons capability.'' These include the B-2, the F-22 and the joint air-to-surface standoff missile, they wrote.

The proposal calls for starting the retirement of the U-2s in fiscal year 2007 and completing it in fiscal year 2011. The unmanned Global Hawk reconnaissance aircraft, assembled in Palmdale by Northrop Grumman workers, can take over the U-2's role of providing reconnaissance images to battlefield commanders, according to the document.

About 28 U-2s and five trainers are believed to remain in military service. All were built during the 1980s, though the design dates to the 1950s. The Air Force's F-117s were also built in the 1980s.

The Global Hawk has provided more than 15,000 images of targets in the Middle East in the War on Terror over the past year, the document said. A larger version now in production is able to carry additional gear for listening to enemy radio transmissions and identifying radar sites, as the U-2 can do.

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. has modification and support functions for the F-117 and U-2 aircraft in Palmdale.

Company spokeswoman Dianne Knippel declined to say how many employees work on the two programs.

The company is discussing the proposals with the Air Force.

``It is way too premature to talk about what impacts it would have to Palmdale,'' Knippel said.

Work on the U-2s in Palmdale includes updating the aircraft's cockpit displays and controls.

The company provides technical, maintenance and modernization support for the F-117 Nighthawk in Palmdale for the Air Force's 49th Fighter Wing.

Rep. Howard ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, is looking into the issue.

Congress has included language in the last two defense authorization bills blocking the Air Force from retiring any of the F-117s.

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) An F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter flies over the Sierra Nevada range.

U.S. Air Force

(2 -- color) A Lockheed Martin U-2 reconnaissance plane flies over the Tehachapi Mountains.

Lockheed Martin