IMHO, the F-22 is superior to the F-35 and the F-15/16 variants................
It’s not and never will be. The F22 has half and maybe less of the weapons load.... Ooooooohhh it’s got stealth!!! Which is then defeated with old style radar that the Russians have been mass producing to beat US hocus pocus woo woo bullshit tech that the rest of the world has caught on to. How do you think the f117 was shot down?
The f22 is an air superiority fighter only. It makes little sense to use it in anything but this role considering the f15 kills it in A2G and it’s so expensive it’s simply not worth flying in anything but a specialized mission / role.
The F35 is a turkey and those responsible for the program should be in jail including congress members. As usual, just like with the F4, military planners are planning for wars that never happen and relying on tech that just isn’t and may never be there. Remember when they took the gun off the F4 and relied on missiles that barely worked? It’s that all over again with this bullshit stealth and over reliance on woo tech.
In our current role, we don’t even need the a10. The bronco or the super tucano will do just fine. The A10 is t being fixed anytime ever. It either needs replacement or a new design based on the standards it set for CAS. We have been fighting COIN for 50 years with golden hammers and that needs to stop and the military needs to be flushed of the losers who can’t come to reality and meet current actual needs. Air Force doesn’t like CAS, fire them. Marines insist on VTOL, fire them. It is that simple and it needs to be done. Flush to culture of losers.