F-22's fate sealed, but Marietta plant cruising

“Things are going well. And, if all continues to go well and the JSF work comes here, there’s going to be increased jobs,” said Denise Rakestraw, president-elect of Local 709 of the International Association of Machinists, which represents hundreds of employees at the Marietta plant. “These jobs are hugely important and everybody is grateful to have one.”

Nothing, of course, is certain with military procurement. A lousy economy could lead Congress to further slice Pentagon budgets. And the Defense Department recently warned that the F-35, to be assembled in Texas with some parts supplied from Marietta, is behind schedule and over budget.

In a letter last January to President Obama, nearly 200 congressmen urged continued production of the F-22.

“As our nation faces one of the most trying economic times in recent history, it is imperative to preserve existing high paying, specialized jobs that are critical to our national defense,” the letter read.

Lockheed Martin, in its lobbying blitz to extend production, said that 25,000 people supply parts for the plane or work on it in Georgia, California or Texas. Another 70,000 jobs, the company claimed, were indirectly tied to the F-22.

About 7,300 people work at the Marietta plant, 1,500 on the F-22 program.

“The F-22 has played a great role in Cobb. It has meant a lot to families and to the local economy,” said U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.), whose district includes the plant. “I hate to see something that people have spent their career working on just fade away when we still feel that we need more of these planes.”

Sam Olens, who chairs the Cobb County commission, said Lockheed’s impact has lessened as the county’s employment base has mushroomed.

“Its economic value is significant, but their workforce has far less of an effect on the county than it did years ago,” Olens said.

Obama, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, considered the F-22 too costly and militarily limited. Its $140 million price tag can double when 20 years worth of research and development costs are factored in. And, as Gates pointed out, the F-22 has never been deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan.

U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, the Republican from Moultrie, warned in February of “100,000 people around the country being laid off.” U.S. Rep. David Scott, an Atlanta Democrat, said that the recession makes it “essential that we not only create more jobs, but keep those Americans already working fully employed.”

But Gates ordered production capped at 187 F-22 Raptors, and Congress went along. The Marietta line could fall silent in early 2012, after existing orders are finished.

Even before Congress capped the F-22 program, Lockheed Martin executives said other work could pick up the slack.

The Marietta plant builds the midsized C-130J Super Hercules cargo planes popular with the U.S. services and internationally. The C-130J had a rocky development and initial sales phase , but Rob Fuller, a Lockheed spokesman, said it now “has the largest backlog of orders in the program’s history.”

The Marietta plant also adds updated avionics, engines and cockpits to the gigantic C-5s built there in decades past. Fuller said “there will be an increase in production for the C-5 re-engining program and will be part of Marietta’s business base for years to come.”

Marietta workers also attach wings to the P-3 Orion.

As for the F-35, Lockheed officials say it’s too early to determine how much work the Texas-based program will mean for the Marietta plant.

But Rakestraw, the union leader, said the plant may actually gain 500 jobs from current levels when the F-35 work and other programs are figured in.

On the other hand, the F-35 could face some of the same budgetary pressures as the F-22. Members of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee said last week they were “deeply concerned” about the F-35’s cost and schedule. The Pentagon currently wants to buy nearly 2,500 over 25 years, at a cost of $300 billion.

Lockheed shares the committee’s concerns, Fuller said, adding that costs will come down before full production begins.

John Pike, a defense expert with globalsecurity.org, said the Senate’s fears about the F-35 are unproven.

“The ramp-up to production is where you discover problems and greater realism on cost and scheduling issues,” he said. “And that’s the point at which Congress pushes back and tries to prevent the thing from just getting completely out of control.”

Lockheed also is seeking congressional approval to sell F-22s overseas. Japan, Australia and Israel have expressed some interest in the F-22. Sales, though, aren’t imminent. Without foreign markets, the skies over Cobb County will likely be free of F-22s in three years.

“But it won’t be nearly as bad as if Lockheed was just selling one line of cars and all they had was the F-22,” Rep. Gingrey said. “We’re in good shape, really, despite taking a body blow.”