The US Air Force seems hell-bent on getting rid of its greatest ever fighter jet
Story by David Axe • 19h • 3 min read
The US Air Force has been in an unseemly hurry to rid itself of its Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor stealth fighters. Its argument: the 32 least-upgraded Block 20 versions of the supersonic, fifth-generation stealth fighter aren’t suitable for combat – and together cost nearly half a billion dollars a year to maintain.
The F-22 is the most capable, most advanced fighter jet in US service. It’s probably the greatest fighter plane built so far. But keeping the older F-22s in service is prohibitively expensive while the Air Force is struggling to pay for an array of new capabilities, including new fighters, bombers, radar planes, drones, satellites and nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles. At least, that’s the Air Force’s argument.
But the planned divestment of the nearly 30-year-old Block 20 F-22s would kneecap the Raptor force, according to a new report from the US Government Accountability Office. For now, the US Congress agrees. It has barred the Air Force from eliminating any F-22s for at least a few years.
That’s because the Block 20s are training jets. Without them, the Air Force would have to assign some of its upgraded Block 30/35 F-22s – which have improved sensors and weapons – to training tasks. The end result would be a deep cut in the number of F-22s available for combat.
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