Pentagon eyes F-35 fighters, not pricier F-22s

The U.S. Defense Department is likely to speed production of Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 Joint Strike Fighter rather than buy more of the company's pricier F-22 fighters, the Pentagon's No. 2 official told Congress Tuesday.

"I do not believe the F-22s will be replacements for the F-15," Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England said at a Senate Budget Committee hearing on the Pentagon's fiscal 2009 budget request. The Boeing Co F-15 is an older-model fighter that has been subject to groundings in recent months after one broke up in flight.

"So I would expect instead we would try to accelerate the Joint Strike Fighter, which is more the class of the F-15," he said. "So the Air Force would move into Joint Strike Fighter and not into the much more expensive F-22 airplane."

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