President Bush is in office for another year but his Fiscal 2009 Pentagon request indicates that political officials there already have a foot out the door given their willingness to let key military programs languish until the next administration arrives.

The Defense Dept.’s $515.4-billion request for Fiscal 2009, the largest ever, will leave Bush’s successor with a host of unpaid bills and unanswered questions about the fate of some major acquisition programs.

The Pentagon is deferring decisions on two major U.S. production lines: the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor stealth fighter and the Boeing C-17 transport. Both are set to begin or continue closure in Fiscal ’09 unless Congress intervenes.

The Fiscal ’09 budget reflects a reversal of the Pentagon’s short-lived policy to keep at least one fifth-generation fighter line at full production at all times. The proliferation of advanced air defense systems and concerns about the ability for the U.S. to strike sensitive targets around the world justified the policy, according to the Air Force. This policy was the basis for Pentagon approval of a 60-aircraft F-22 purchase beginning in Fiscal ’07. USAF officials say a gap in fifth-generation fighter production will occur between 2008-14 when the F-35, a stealthy single-engine fighter, enters full-rate production.

Yet, the Fiscal ’09 request lacks funding to shut down the Lockheed Martin F-22 line as well as any seed money for future purchases. Adm. Steve Stanley, director of force structure, resources and assessment for the Joint Staff, says that an order for more F-22s will likely be included in the Fiscal ’09 supplemental spending bill for operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. The F-22s would replace combat losses of Air Force legacy aircraft. Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England has proposed including money for four F-22s in the supplemental request that “would not require shutdown costs in FY ’09, so they are not there,” says Stanley. “It also has the advantage of leaving a decision about F-22 to the next administration, which will have to execute the program.”

Industry experts, however, says that four additional aircraft will hardly be enough to support a line designed to produce 20 F-22s per year. It could cost as much as $500 million to close the F-22 production line but keep it in a “warm” status, which preserves some tooling if a restart occurs. The closure could take up to five years to complete. A schedule and final figure haven’t yet been negotiated between USAF and Lockheed Martin.

The last 20 of those fighters will come off the line in Marietta, Ga., in Fiscal ’11. USAF officials say they expect F-22 line shutdown activities to begin this summer

Disagreement on the F-22 issue has reached the highest levels of the Defense Dept., according to industry sources. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he supports keeping the line open. However, England has registered some opposition, to the point of allegedly walking out of a meeting with Gates over the subject.

While the Raptor’s fate is uncertain, the Pentagon is turning to upgrade existing aircraft like the Boeing F-15 and F/A-18 and Lockheed Martin F-16. Aerospace executives suggest that the F-22 fleet won’t increase beyond about 200 aircraft, and a plan is being crafted to buy an additional 100 Boeing F-15Es with new, advanced radars that can identify small ground and stealthy air targets instead of purchasing more F-22s. The Air Force says it needs a minimum of 381 F-22s, but so far production has been capped at 183. The choice is between new technology—for example, the stealthy fifth-generation F-22—or older, but upgraded, technology like new model F-15Es or F/A-18 Super Hornets.

A proposal from Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne to include $497 million in the Fiscal ’09 request for F-22 shutdown or advance procurement was squelched by the Pentagon. USAF had planned to buy only stealthy fighters in the future. Stanley says that money has been shifted to the F-15 account, in part to pay for structural fixes for the F-15A-D fleet; a defective longeron caused a Missouri Air National Guard F-15C to split apart in midair and led to the temporary grounding of the entire F-15 fleet.