Senators add $1.75B to DOD budget for Lockheed F-22s

WASHINGTON - Senators have added $1.75 billion to a Pentagon budget proposal for seven more of Lockheed Martin Corp.'s F-22 fighter jets, setting the stage for a battle with the Obama administration.

The Senate Armed Services Committee added the funds in its version of the fiscal 2010 defense spending bill. The full Senate has yet to vote on the measure.

But by a vote of 389-22, the House on Thursday approved its version of the spending bill, which included $369 million to continue production of the Lockheed jets.

Georgia's Senator Saxby Chambliss, whose state could lose jobs if the F-22 program is terminated, requested the funding. The planes are assembled in Marietta.