There seems to be some confusion over just when the Obama Administration must make the call on whether to continue production of the F-22 fighter force. Earlier this week, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told reporters that the final decision would not come until submission of the Fiscal 2010 defense budget, now set for mid-April. Almost everyone had considered the Congressionally directed March 1 date as the F-22 “go or no-go” deadline. Just last month, Pentagon boss Robert Gates told lawmakers that he wasn’t concerned about the price tag going up as the Pentagon slowed release of funds for long-lead items because the Lockheed Martin estimates were good until March 16 by which time President Obama would have made his decision on the F-22’s fate. Now, Morrell says he would “take issue with the characterization of “go or no-go” decision for March 1. On that day, he said, the Pentagon would have informed Congress of its intent to allocate the remainder of the long-lead funds. He added, “You will know when the FY ’10 budget is rolled out where the F-22 program is going, but not until that point.” (Morrell on F-22)
The last remaining T-1 Jayhawk at JBSA-Randolph, Texas, took its final flight to the "Boneyard" at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., on July 15. The 99th Flying Training Squadron will train pilots using T-6 and simulator until it gets T-7 Red Hawk in fiscal 2026.