F-22 demise premature?

Posted by John McHale

Over the last few days I've read different articles detailing how Congressional leaders in the President's own party are saying "not so fast," when it comes to canceling the expensive F-22 jet fighter program.
Over the last few days I've read different articles detailing how Congressional leaders in the President's own party are saying "not so fast," when it comes to canceling the expensive F-22 Raptor jet fighter program.

As we've detailed on this page, President Obama wants to discontinue the F-22 Raptor, which has had major cost overruns and has yet to be deployed in favor of increased funding for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

The problem as F-22 prime contractor Lockheed Martin sees it and many in Congress as well is that cancellation may create major job loss at a time when unemployment is already hovering around 10 percent.

Yes, major republican figures such as Sen. John McCain of Ariz., support the cancellation of the program, but congressional leaders on both sides are loathe to cut thousands of jobs that may in the end cost them their own jobs at election time.

President Obama's and Defense Secretary Robert Gates' argument for shifting funding away from the F-22 makes sense. However, some times facts don't matter in politics.

The recession doesn't look to end by the time the defense budget goes to Congress for a vote and if unemployment numbers go up look for the F-22 to keep flying for few more years.

Paris exhibitors credit military market for stability

Posted by John McHale

Exhibitors at the Paris Air Show last month were constantly asked about how they were faring during the economic downturn. Most credited their military systems designs with keeping them afloat.

Exhibitors at the Paris Air Show last month were constantly asked about how they were faring during the economic downturn. Most credited their military systems designs with keeping them afloat.

"Military wins saved our business," Francois Hervieux, director of sales for Air Data in Quebec told me. Commercial wins have dried up due the economic downturn, but military business has been steady.

Nandu Balsaver of Laversab, a designer of avionics test equipment near Houston said it is not because commercial outfits do not have the money, -- they do. It is that they do not wish to part with it. "They are holding it tight to wait out the storm," he said.

The military is the only thing that has been consistent, Balsaver added.

Most of the people I talked to who have designs in both markets said the same thing -- commercial business is drying up while the military is steady but not going gangbusters.

That is unless you are a defense prime, a maker of unmanned systems, or FLIR in Beaverton, Ore. David Strong, the vice president of marketing for FLIR said the company is doing better than ever.

When Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently shifted funding in the DOD 2010 budget request from large platforms such as the F-22 to applications for Special Forces it played right into FLIR's core business, Strong said.

"Practically everything we do targets Special Forces from thermal weapon sights" to electro-optical gimbals on helicopters, Strong said.

The company is sitting quite pretty, having grown nearly 50 percent in the last two years, with their Government division making up more than half of their more than $1 billion in revenue.

Their government business -- which consist of not just military but civil and homeland security applications throughout the world -- is also the fastest growing part of their business, Strong noted.

Strong said he also sees the European market having fast growth potential, hence why they were here at the Paris Air Show.