WHY THE AIR FORCE WANTS TO RETIRE NEARLY 1/5 OF ITS F-22 FLEET
Alex Hollings | April 1, 2022
Last week, the Pentagon released its budget request for 2023, which—among a long list of other changes to the force—calls for the retirement of more than thirty Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptors, widely believed to be the most capable air superiority fighter on the planet. Because the United States ended the F-22’s production run after just 186 aircraft were delivered, this cut represents nearly one-fifth of all Raptors in existence.
The F-22 is a purpose-built air superiority fighter designed specifically to be able to dominate the most advanced fighters fielded by America’s competitors. And despite being the oldest 5th-generation design on the planet, the F-22 Raptor’s unique combination of high performance, sensor range, and extreme low observability has made it the benchmark for air superiority fighters in the modern era.
While the F-22 retains the edge in air combat today, the Air Force is looking toward the future—and its air superiority fighter system in development under the banner of the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program. According to the Air Force, retiring 33 of their oldest F-22s will free up about $1.8 billion over the next eight years that can be used to update the remaining 153 jets in the F-22 fleet to an even higher standard, without cutting into funds they believe are best set aside for NGAD.
https://www.sandboxx.us/blog/why-the-air-force-wants-to-retire-nearly-1-5-of-its-f-22-fleet/
