Pentagon to end F-22s, presidential chopper - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

Pentagon to end F-22s, presidential chopper

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the Pentagon will end the F-22 fighter jet and presidential helicopter programs run by Lockheed Martin Corp.

Military analysts widely expected the radar-evading supersonic jet — considered an outdated weapon system designed for the Cold War — would not go beyond the 187 already planned. The planes cost $140 million each.

But Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed, the nation’s largest defense contractor, has said almost 95,000 jobs could be at stake if the Pentagon didn’t buy more of the planes.

The new fleet of presidential helicopters — with a price tag of $11.2 billion that was nearly double the original budget— also were considered at risk to be cut in the 2010 budget.