The Air Force and Lockheed Martin are getting a strong boost from congressional supporters and other defense companies in a push to convince the Department of Defense to fund more F-22 Raptor fighter jets.  

In an intensifying lobbying campaign, scores of lawmakers and six major defense companies are starting a letter-writing campaign to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, urging him to extend the production of the F-22 Raptor.

The Air Force has stated over the years that it has a requirement for 381 F-22s to maintain air superiority, but Pentagon leaders so far have green-lighted production for only 183 jets.  

In recent weeks, the Air Force stepped up its case for more Raptors after it had to ground more than 450 F-15 fighters. The F-22 is designed to replace the Cold War-era F-15s, which are made by Boeing.

Several dozen lawmakers in the House ad the Senate signed a letter going out this week to Gates asking him to continue production on the Raptor.

The campaign in the House is led by Reps. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.), whose district includes Lockheed’s Marietta plant, and Kay Granger (R-Texas), whose district includes the Fort Worth plant where Lockheed Martin builds most of the aircraft’s fuselage.

Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), who in the past successfully pushed for a multi-year procurement of the F-22, is leading the campaign in the Senate.

Lawmakers call the decision to stop the fighter jet’s production “ill-advised and premature.”

They raised concern about the Air Force’s recapitalization shortfalls as well as “the rapidly emerging airborne and surface-to-air threats facing our nation’s military.”

Congressional supporters are urging the defense secretary to include sufficient funds in the fiscal 2009 budget request to buy so-called long-lead items that would be used for an additional lot of planes after 2011. Pentagon planners are in the process of shaping the 2009 budget request.

“The Air Force has repeatedly stated it needs over 220 Raptors because of its unique capabilities. I think ensuring our air superiority is critical and that’s what we’re trying to make happen,” said Granger in a statement.

In the letter to Gates, lawmakers charge that the Pentagon’s decision to buy only 183 aircraft is not supported “by any rigorous, campaign-based analysis assessing the most stressing scenarios and rapidly growing threats.”

“At least three independent studies commissioned by DoD recommended procuring significantly more than 220 Raptors because of its singularly unique capability to overwhelm all air and surface-to-air threats,” they wrote.

As congressional supporters are garnering backing for their push, the CEOs of the six major defense companies — Lockheed Martin, Boeing Integrated Defense, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, BAE Systems and United Technologies Corp. — also wrote a letter to Gates on

Tuesday to express concern about the future of the F-22 program.  

The CEOs are urging the Pentagon to fund advanced procurement for at least 20 F-22s in the 2009 budget and approve full funding for the aircraft in 2010. The CEOs are also pressing for a follow-on multi-year contract to maintain savings. They tried to paint a bleak picture in their letter to Gates, pointing out that the “F-22 supplier base will progressively shut down beginning in late 2008” without more money for advance procurement.

Shutting down the F-22 production line could have ripple effects among more than 1,000 suppliers, which employ about 25,000 people in more than 44 states, and would affect three major aircraft-assembly plants.

About 1,800 Lockheed workers in Fort Worth, Texas, build the largest section of the F-22, and Boeing in Seattle constructs the tail and rear section. At a plant in Marietta, Lockheed not only assembles the Raptor but also builds the forward fuselage.

“If this highly specialized supplier base is shut down, it will be expensive and in some cases impossible to reconstitute,” wrote the CEOs.

They argued that the F-22 program is currently on schedule and within budget and is “producing aircraft at the most affordable point in the product lifecycle.”  

The multibillion-dollar F-22 program, which began development in the mid-1980s, has faced its share of problems and criticism over the years.

The current price tag for the stealth fighter is about $142 million. Under the current multi-year contract, Lockheed builds 20 F-22s a year. In the case of certain parts, it takes several years to procure them and mold into shape.

The Air Force has requested that money used for shutting down the production line be invested in 20 more F-22s. Congressional sources say that the Air Force is likely to get the additional 20, but any further purchase requires congressional approval.