Contact: Beth Daley or Eric Miller at defense@pogo.org or (202) 347-1122

Washington, DC - If the Pentagon approves the release of production funding tomorrow, the F-22 is on track to become the next "buy before fly" fiasco along with the B-1 and B-2 bombers and the V-22 Osprey, according to a report by the Project On Government Oversight (POGO).

With only a few days left before the Bush Administration takes over, the Pentagon's Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) has scheduled a last minute meeting to approve $2.1 billion in funding for F-22 production. Congress' defense budget bills of 2000 and 2001 mandate that production funding be withheld until all 11 testing criteria are met by the program. According to information compiled by POGO, three of the 11 testing criteria have been met to date.

"Why the rush to production?'' said POGO's Eric Miller. "Government auditors have said that the U.S.'s air superiority won't be challenged at least until 2015. The Bush administration should insist that the F-22's sophisticated avionics be proven to be flight worthy before a production decision is made."

According to POGO's report, the Pentagon should not only adhere to these very minimal testing criteria before going into production on the F-22, but it should set a higher standard requiring that all operational testing be completed, particularly of the avionics (the eyes, ears and brain of the plane) prior to costly buys of new aircraft like the F-22.

No greater lesson than this was learned from the "buy before fly" B-1 and B-2 bomber fiascos. In 1986, the Air Force began production of the B-2 despite numerous problems including the aircraft's avionics. It wasn't until 1997 that an initial operational test and evaluation was completed. Originally projected to cost $438 million per aircraft, by 1998 the cost of each B-2 increased more than fourfold to $2.1 billion.

The Pentagon's history of purchasing incomplete planes like the F-22 has not only cost the American taxpayers billions of dollars, it has cost tens and possibly hundreds of military personnel's lives. In recent weeks, despite testing deficiencies and several fatal crashes, the Pentagon pushed to secure funding to begin full scale production of the V-22. It took the December 12th V-22 crash killing four to postpone this decision.

Copies of the report Will We Ever Fly Before We Buy? F-22 Doesn't Meet Basic Testing Criteria are available by contacting POGO at (202) 347-1122.

POGO investigates, exposes, and seeks to remedy systemic abuses of power, mismanagement, and subservience by the federal government to powerful special interests. Founded in 1981, POGO is a politically-independent, nonprofit watchdog that strives to promote a government that is accountable to the citizenry.

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