Posted on 10/04/2015 5:14:13 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Abort! Abort!
No, that is one of the big jokes about the "F-22 sucks" narrative from 0bama.
The F-22 is so highly classified that sales were blocked to both Japan and Australia. Both were extremely interested.
Now the assembly line is shut. We should have bought at least double the actual buy of 187 aircraft. Here's some relevant info:
According to Air Force officials, a minimum of 381 F-22A aircraft are needed to satisfy today's national security requirements, yet OSD stated it can only afford to buy 187 F-22A aircraft. This results in a 194-aircraft gap in capability. Additionally, the Air Force stated a "need" for greater ground attack and intelligence-gathering capabilities, not included in the existing business case that will require an extensive modernization program.Read the whole thing at:The Air Force states a need for one squadron of 24 F-22A aircraft for each of the 10 Air Expeditionary Forces, the planned organization of the Air Force aircraft and personnel for operations and deployments. This requirement was established to carry out missions including support in major regional conflicts, home land security, and others. According to the Air Force, this requires a total of 381 F-22As, 240 primary aircraft and 141 aircraft for training, attrition, and to allow for periodic aircraft depot maintenance. The Air Force stated that if all 381 aircraft are acquired, the Air Force could retire about 566 legacy aircraft; if not, several billions of modification dollars will be required to extend their structural life to keep them operational.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/f-22-production.htm
my concern was that if a strategy based on f-35s requires f-22s, and if we want to sell f-35s to allies in order to try to keep cost per unit down, and those allies do not currently have any f-22s nor are there any for sale, then what is the chance any f-35s will be sold to any allies to bring costs down?
Costs will go down if orders are not cancelled.
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