Obama budget could cut GE from fighter program

LYNN – About half the savings in President Barack Obama’s budget would come from an effort by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to curb defense programs, including one through which GE manufactures an alternative engine for the Joint Strike Fighter.The cuts also address production of the Air Force’s F-22 Raptor fighter plane, which has been in development at the cost of billions of dollars, but is not flying.Additional proposed cuts would eliminate a much-maligned replacement helicopter fleet for Obama, part of a plan to create a sophisticated aircraft from which the President could remain relatively safe and run the country in an emergency. However, that super-chopper program is already grossly over budget and critics say it’s unnecessary.Elimination of GE as the manufacturer of the alternative Joint Strike Fighter engine is part of a $465 million program. Obama’s effort to cut the alternative engine mirrors a similar initiative by former President George Bush.Despite efforts by Bush, Congress continued to fund the alternative engine over the past two years.Richard Gorham, a GE spokesman in Lynn, said the company was hopeful that the line item for the alternative engine would remain in the defense budget. However, should it get axed, GE would seek assistance from key members of Congress to get it inserted in a supplemental budget, as was the case in previous years.The Joint Strike Fighter is designed for use by all U.S. military services, replacing a policy that allowed each branch of the service to select its fighter plane of choice.