A while back I had written about the excessive military budget in the United States and how if we cut it by at least a third, we would be able to fund other programs in the United States that are currently more important to our welfare than the military. In one blog post, I alluded to the expense of military fighter jets and how Iraq declined to buy some from the U.S. so they could divert the money to feed the poor and hungry. Well, I stumbled across an article written a few years ago that highlights exactly how much money is spent on one of these jets and how much is wasted. The military fighter jet that I am referring to is the F-22, the most expensive plane currently in operation with a cost of about $350 million per jet. I am not sure as to the exact number of F-22's made, but the number is at least 187. If you do the math, thats over $65 billion spent on this one type of military figher jet. It was supposed to be the top dog in the skies, yet since production began, has proved to be one of the most costliest and problematic. The Air Force has reported that the jet requires 30 hours of maintenance for every 1 hour of flight time. The cost for this maintenance is over $44,000 dollars for one hour of flight time. I could go on and on about the problems from degraded visibility in the canopy, to rusting ejector seat rods, to problems with the weapons systems and its "stealth skin".
Due to the excessive cost of buying these aircraft and maintaining them in addition to all the issues that they have, there was an effort in Congress in 2009 to cut spending on this aircraft. However, you guessed it, in 2010, money was again allocated for this jet. The money spent on one aircraft alone would be able to fund many state programs across the country, likely improving the economy and adding jobs if the money was focused on renewable sources of energy or repairing and replacing our infrastructure. The infrastructure in this country is aging and needs attention, however, money keeps on being spent on jets that can't perform as they were intended to. Since 2005 when the first F-22's began to roll out, there has been issue after issue, yet our taxpayer dollars keep on getting dumped down the drain trying to fix it and extend the life of this pariah. This is just one example of wasted money in our government. Yet because of the military industrial complex, it is almost an impossible cycle to rid ourselves of. The manufacturers of these aircraft put money into the pockets of our elected officials (indirectly of course) so that their projects get funded regardless of their efficacy. And on top of that, these companies like Lockheed Martin in association with Boeing spend millions on ad campaigns to boost their favor with the American public just so they could use that as a tax write off for that year.
We have far greater issues residing within our own borders that need attending to such as this current economic recession, increased home foreclosures, job loss, etc. On top of all the money we spend on this one fighter jet, we can't recoup any of the cost because there is a ban on exporting this type of jet to foreign countries regarless of what country it is. In a way, we are sparing other countries from this money pit of a jet fighter. There is no other industry that I know of that would spend billions upon billions of dollars on something that doesn't live up to its own standards. If a product put to market by say a car company failed, either that product would be immediately de-railed or fixed to the point where it was functional. Sometimes, older is better. There are older jets still in operation that have much better track records than this newest stealth jet. Why? Because they are based upon simple principles of avionics are not chock full of the latest technology that seems to get in the way of actually flying the plane. The jet needs to be sent to the graveyard once and for all.
The military is not going to fix our economy, or our infrastructure, or feed the homeless, or provide for the elderly. They are instead usurping much needed money from programs already underfunded. There needs to be a serious re-assessment of the military's size and the efficacy of specific programs within the military. Wasting taxpayer dollars is not an option any more, especially when for the majority of the population, there is little extra money to go around and waste. They still haven't found Bin Laden in over 10 years, yet we keep on wasting money there as well. The latest story I heard of yesterday was about new silk boxers for military personal that have either kevlar or some other product imbedded in them to help protect their private parts from shrapnel. Last time I checked, if a piece of shrapnel hit their head or heart, their privates wouldn't do them much good. I don't even want to know the cost of one pair of these new boxers. But alas, its almost Easter and time to move past all this waste in the government for now. Lets focus instead on our own lives, keeping more money in our own pockets (if we can), and staying positive in these times of depression and uncertainty.
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