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F-35 Fighter Jet

Pentagon To End F-22 Jets

The end of a fighter jet built for the Cold War and cancellation of a new fleet of presidential helicopters sparked concerns of job cuts at Lockheed Martin Corp. and its partners — but did not appear to shake Wall Street's confidence in defense stocks.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday the Pentagon will end the F-22 fighter jet and White House helicopter programs run by Lockheed, but would increase production of the company's Joint Strike Fighter.

Job and other budget figures released by Gates sought to assuage fears of deep cuts at the nation's largest defense contractor and its suppliers, helping Lockheed shares to rise nearly 9 percent.

Gates recommended more than doubling the number of Joint Strike Fighters to 30 in the upcoming budget, which would increase funding to $11.2 billion from $6.8 billion.

According to the Pentagon, there already are 38,000 employees working on the next-generation stealth fighter jet, known as the F-35. That number is anticipated to jump to 82,000 in fiscal 2011.

Still, Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed has said almost 95,000 jobs — mostly in California, Texas, Georgia and Connecticut — could be at risk if the Pentagon didn't buy more F-22 jets.

Gates offered a very different employment picture, saying the number of direct jobs would fall to 13,000 in fiscal 2011 from 24,000 this year.

JSA Research Inc. analyst Paul Nisbet said the disparity of F-22 and Joint Strike Fighter job figures appeared to "surprise a few people" and was enough to offset Lockheed losing two major programs.

Military analysts widely expected the radar-evading supersonic F-22 jet — considered an outdated weapon system — would not go beyond the 187 already planned. The planes cost $140 million each.

Lockheed said it's assessing the impact of Gates' decision on several defense programs.

Most of the F-22's are being built in Marietta, Ga. and Fort Worth, Texas. Boeing Co. manufactures the wings and other parts in Seattle. The engines are supplied by Pratt & Whitney, a United Technologies Corp. unit, in Middletown, Conn.

Georgia Republicans, Rep. Phil Gingrey and Sen. Johnny Isakson, said Gates' decision put thousands of manufacturing jobs at risk. And Jeff Goen, president of the union representing Lockheed's employees in metro Atlanta, said layoffs are inevitable unless Congress restores the fighter program.

"It's going devastate many families here," Goen said.

Goen didn't know how many jobs might be lost, but said Lockheed has about 2,000 workers — out of 7,000 at its Georgia plant — assigned to the F-22. The union, the International Association of Machinists Local 709, represents about 1,200 employees working on the jet's assembly.

Matthew Perra, a spokesman for Pratt & Whitney, said that without additional F-22 aircraft orders, the company will be forced to halt orders from suppliers within months.

Hartford, Conn.-based United Technologies last month announced plans to trim 11,600 jobs from its global work force. And the company's CEO Louis Chenevert has said the diversified manufacturer may cut an additional 2,000 to 3,000 jobs in Connecticut if the Pentagon cancels production of the F-22.

Plans to buy a new fleet of White House helicopters also were among the programs terminated by Gates. With a price tag of $13 billion and a six-year delay, the helicopters were considered at risk to be cut in the 2010 budget.

Obama has said he would closely examine the program, noting that his current ride seemed "perfectly adequate."

Gates said the Pentagon will look into other options in fiscal 2011 for a new program to replace the aging helicopter fleet.

Cost overruns and delays have plagued Lockheed's program due partly to aggressive plans by the Bush administration to incorporate anti-missile defenses, communications equipment, hardened hulls and other advanced capabilities on the helicopters following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The Navy waited nearly a year before formally disclosing the information to lawmakers as it sought to find ways to keep the program within budget. Those efforts failed.

Shares of Lockheed Martin added $5.97, or 8.9 percent, to $73.28 Monday. Many other defense stocks also rose.

___

Associated Press writers Stephen Singer in Hartford, Conn., and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Ga., contributed to this report.

Lawrence of Arabia

A modern-day Lawrence of Arabia in Iraq

RAMADI, Iraq - Just like in the classic movie "Lawrence of Arabia," the man's eyes are piercing below his tribal headdress.

He looks straight at you with a determined, uncompromising stare. His word is law in his region of Anbar Province. He allows no dissent in his tribe and is not opposed to using force to punish those he deems to be threats to him or his tribe.

There are many Sunni tribal sheiks in Anbar, but there is only one Sheik Lawrence. His authority and name are inherited from his great-grandfather, one of the Bedouin leaders who rode beside the Englishman T.E. Lawrence during the World War I fight against the Ottoman Empire.

His tribe, the Anezi, is not particularly large, and the area he controls isn't prominent in Iraqi politics. But as US military and civilian officials have learned, he is a man to be reckoned with.

Sheik Lawrence - full name, Sheik Lawrence Mutib Hazan - is said to be connected to the Saudi royal family and has key contacts throughout the Persian Gulf and among the provincial government leadership in Ramadi and the Iraqi national government in Baghdad.

In partnership with the United States, Sheik Lawrence routed insurgents from his domain in Anbar, centered in the desert village of An Nukhayb. But his deal with the Americans came with a price. The United States is funding the reconstruction of the water wells and power distribution in An Nukhayb.

More recently, he has asked for US help in settling the boundary dispute between Anbar and Karbala provinces, a request that the top Marine general in Iraq is trying to fulfill.

When the history of the US involvement in Iraq is written, one focus will be the Americans' relationship with the sheiks of Anbar, the province that was the birthplace of the Sunni-led insurgency.

At first, the US military sought to ignore them as cultural anachronisms - a decision it soon came to regret as the insurgency burgeoned.

Then came the Anbar Awakening, a pledge by some of the sheiks to side with the Americans against the insurgency.

Within two years, Anbar went from lost cause to success story in the eyes of US officials, even before the buildup of troops in Baghdad.

Figuring out the pecking order among sheiks has been a challenge for the US military. Some sheiks have great authority; others pretend to. Some are what commanders have come to call "fake sheiks."

Sheik Lawrence, in his mid-50s, has passed all the tests of credibility.

He stuck with the Americans even when the founder of the Awakening was assassinated. He has called for continued opposition to the insurgency and cooperation with the national government in Baghdad.

Source: http://www.boston.com

jennifer feitz

Woman on cruise ship missing

MIAMI, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- The U.S. Coast Guard and Mexican forces searched the waters off Cancun, Mexico, for a woman reported missing on a cruise ship.

The hunt for Jennifer Feitz, 36, began just before 4 a.m. on the Norwegian Pearl when her husband told cruise employees he could not find his wife, CNN reported. After the crew found no signs of the woman on board the ship, officers notified the Coast Guard.

AnneMarie Mathews, a spokeswoman for the cruise line, said that the Norwegian Pearl began a seven-day trip to the western Caribbean on Sunday.

The Coast Guard dispatched a jet and a fixed-wing aircraft from Clearwater, Fla., to do an aerial search, Nick Ameen, a petty officer third class and spokesman for the Coast Guard said. The Mexican government supplied a helicopter and three search crews.

Source: http://www.upi.com