DEFENSE BILL IN SENATE DOD SEEKS RETIREMENT OF 10 F-117AS.Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer PALMDALE - New Mexico's senators are trying to block an Air Force proposal to retire 10 F-117A stealth fighters, a reduction that would cost Palmdale 100 to 160 jobs. The 2005 defense authorization bill before the Senate contains language prohibiting the Defense Department from retiring any F-117A aircraft during the fiscal year that ends in September 2005. The Pentagon is proposing to retire part of the 52-plane fleet in order to save more than $15 million a year. The language had been included in the bill at the urging of New Mexico New Mexico, state in the SW United States. At its northwestern corner are the so-called Four Corners, where Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah meet at right angles; New Mexico is also bordered by Oklahoma (NE), Texas (E, S), and Mexico (S). Senators Pete Domenici Persondata NAME Domenici, Pietro Vichi ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pete Domenici SHORT DESCRIPTION United States Senator from New Mexico DATE OF BIRTH May 7, 1932 PLACE OF BIRTH Albuquerque, New Mexico DATE OF DEATH PLACE OF DEATH Pietro Vichi "Pete" Domenici , a Republican, and Jeff Bingaman Jesse Francis "Jeff" Bingaman Jr. (born October 3, 1943) is the junior U.S. Senator from New Mexico. He has been in the Senate since 1983 and is a member of the Democratic Party. Bingaman was Attorney General of New Mexico from 1978 until his election to the U.S. , a Democrat. New Mexico is the home of Holloman Air Force Base Holloman Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in Otero County, about 6 miles SW of Alamogordo, New Mexico. It is the home of the 49th Fighter Wing. 49th Fighter Wing The 49th Fighter Wing is the host unit at Holloman Air Force Base. , where the F-117A stealth fighters are based. ``The F-117 has been critical to U.S. national security for nearly 20 years,'' the senators said in a joint statement. ``It has given U.S presidents a reliable first-strike option and continues to provide the combatant commander A commander of one of the unified or specified combatantcommands established by the President. See also combatant command; specified combatant command; unified combatant command. with stealth precision capability. Retirement of this unique asset would be irreversible.'' The House version of the defense bill does not include language blocking the proposal. Differences between the two bills will have to be reconciled later this summer. Lockheed Martin For the former company, see . Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is a leading multinational aerospace manufacturer and advanced technology company formed in 1995 by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta. built the F-117s in the 1980s. The last of these aircraft was delivered to the Air Force in July 1990. Lockheed Martin still does overhaul and modification work on the planes at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale. The effort to block the retirement is being supported by Rep. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, whose district includes the Palmdale plant where the aircraft are modified. ``We are working to keep it in the fold,'' a McKeon staffer said. ``If you retire 10 this year, how many will you retire next year?'' Defense officials said other stealth aircraft are reducing the need for the fighter. ``Due to increasing capabilities of other low observable assets such as the B-2 and the F/A-22, there is a reduced requirement for the F- 117s,'' defense officials said in a budget message to Congress. The F-117A first saw combat in 1989 in Panama and the planes have been used in the Balkans and in both Iraq wars Iraq War: see under Persian Gulf Wars. Iraq War or Second Persian Gulf War Brief conflict in 2003 between Iraq and a combined force of troops largely from the U.S. and Great Britain; and a subsequent U.S. , including dropping the first bombs of last year's fighting. Jim Skeen, (661) 267-5743 james.skeen(at)dailynews.com |
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