F-22s ‘highest priority’ for near-term fight, Air Force acquisition boss says

[Timber Rattler]

https://breakingdefense.com/2024/03/f-22s-highest-priority-for-near-term-fight-air-force-acquisition-boss-says/?_hsmi=297333276

Much attention has been paid to the Air Force’s plans to junk an older group of F-22 Raptor jets, but newer, more combat-capable versions of the stealth fighter are the service’s “highest priority” for a near-term fight, according to a senior official.

Speaking at the McAleese Defense Programs conference today, Air Force acquisition boss Andrew Hunter called the F-22 the “foundation” of the service’s airpower amid a larger effort to “reoptimize” for competition with China, noting that the jet will serve a vital role until its successor, the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) platform, comes online.

“F-22 is a critical capability,” Hunter said. “So what’s my highest priority in the near term for that great power competition? I’d probably put F-22 at the top.”

In its fiscal 2024 budget request, the Air Force moved to junk 32 older F-22s in a configuration known as Block 20, arguing that money to modernize those jets would be better spent on NGAD. But Congress blocked that move, forcing the service to continue their upkeep. Hunter’s comments today are likely a preview of what the service will ask for regarding the Raptor in its upcoming FY25 budget request.

Hunter said that Air Force officials will engage Congress on “some” F-22s that aren’t prepared for combat, and appeared to suggest that funding could be used instead to modernize other Raptors in the fleet. Air Force officials have previously said that funds freed up by divesting Block 20 fighters would be spent directly on NGAD.

EXCERPT

So USAF wants to scrap 32 $100 million F-22s so that it can dump the maintenance money into some new future fighter?

Seriously?