The U.S. Congress and the White House are digging in for a protracted battle over how many stealthy F-22 Raptors are needed for the U.S. Air Force to maintain air superiority.

President Barack Obama is threatening to "veto any bill" that supports acquisition of more than the 187 F-22s already funded by Congress, putting him on a collision course with lawmakers who want more of the fifth-generation fighters for national security, economic and political reasons.

Some Capitol Hill observers question whether Obama would veto a defense authorization bill that includes many of the changes he and Defense Secretary Robert Gates sought in the administration's first Pentagon budget, such as reductions in missile defense programs like the Airborne Laser and kinetic energy interceptor (see p. 18).

But, after talking with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel last week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) says he's convinced Obama means business. "He will veto it" if the extra Raptors stay in, Reid said on the Senate floor.

The House has passed a Fiscal 2010 defense policy bill that authorizes spending $369 million to keep the Lockheed Martin F-22 production line open and begin acquiring parts for 12 more aircraft. The Senate Armed Services Committee went even further last month, voting 13-11 to authorize $1.75 billion to acquire seven Raptors.

However, the Senate committee's chairman, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), and its senior Republican, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), side with Obama in opposing more F-22s. They have offered an amendment that would strip the F-22 provision from the defense authorization bill which is being debated in the Senate. "As Secretary Gates and the military leadership have determined, we do not need these planes," Obama writes in a letter backing the Levin-McCain amendment.

McCain says the president should veto the bill if it includes more F-22s because "this amendment is about whether we change fundamentally how we do business here."

If Obama vetoes the bill, Congress could try to override it before the end of the year, but that would require a two-thirds majority vote in both the House and Senate. Failing that, lawmakers can try to move another bill with or without the F-22 provision, which is what tends to happen with annual legislation like defense authorization or appropriations.

Other opponents of funding more Raptors include Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Air Force Secretary Michael Donley, and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz.

Arrayed against them are organizations like the Air Force Assn. and a growing number of senators representing states with contractors supplying the F-22, such as Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.). Lockheed Martin has parceled out F-22 manufacturing to 1,000 contractors in 40 states, making it politically difficult for lawmakers to vote against more Raptors.