[Yo-Yo]

Were you not around in 2006? It was Gates under President Bush in 2006 that capped F-22 production at 183 aircraft. Congress eventually upped it to 187, but it was the Bush administration that kept pushing to kill the Raptor.

In their last budget, the Bush administration kept the option to extend F-22 production up to the next administration, but still planned to end production at 187 aircraft.

All Gates did under Obama was to continue the policy he advocated when he was Secetrary of Defense under Bush.

[2CAVTrooper]

In January 2008, the Pentagon announced that it would ask Congress to fund additional F-22s.

24 Sept 2008, congress passed a defense spending bill authorizing additional F-22s.

The biggest cuts to the F-22 program came during the clinton administration where it was cut from 650+ aircraft to 438 in 1994, and then cut again in 1997 to 339 aircraft.

Due to a CONGRESSIONAL “cost cap” the procurement was reduced to 277 aircraft in 2003.

In 2004, the air force reduced the procurement to the 180+ in order to implement a multi-year procurement plan to allow for the possibility of future orders beyond the 180+ aircraft.