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Subject:
F-22 pulled from Paris Airshow
DarthAmerica
6/16/2009 10:36:39 PM
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PARIS (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force has pulled its premiere F-22 fighter jet from the Paris Air Show, citing other demands on its time, said a spokesman for Lockheed Martin Corp, which builds the Raptor.
Spokesman Christopher Trippick said on Monday that the F-22 also would not make an appearance at the Royal International Air Tattoo, the world's largest military air show, to be held next month in Britain.
The F-22 made its first international air show appearance at the Farnborough Air Show last year, a 12-minute flight that generated a great deal of buzz. It also flew at the Royal International Air Tattoo.
Trippick said the Air Force decision was based on availability, but had no further information.
But European industry executives said there might have been concerns over whether the stealth plane would be exposed to radar trying to unlock its secrets.
Lockheed's F-117 stealth fighter made an appearance at the 1991 Paris Air Show, but two years later, the Clinton administration boycotted the appearance of any U.S. military aircraft at the show.
One industry executive, who asked not to be named, said the French government had reportedly used its ultra low-frequency, long-range radar to track the aircraft on its approach to the airfield, sparking concerns among U.S. officials.
The Obama administration said in April that it would only order four more of the radar-evading fighters, capping production at 187 planes.
Some U.S. lawmakers are pushing to repeal a law banning exports of the aircraft to keep the production line running a little longer.
But Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz last week said F-22 exports also faced other significant obstacles, including the cost to protect or remove classified equipment from the aircraft, and a likely break in production before any exports could be approved, which would raise the cost.
Industry executives said the U.S. government may have decided it would be imprudent to bring the fighter to the air show, since the export ban is still in effect and especially since Defense Secretary Robert Gates has told close U.S. allies like Japan that it is not for sale.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa with additional reporting by Tim Hepher in Paris; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Maureen Bavdek) |
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