Goodbye to the F-22 (and good riddance)
By Dov Zakheim The Obama administration fought very hard to terminate the F-22 line of fighter aircraft, and in this respect it was right to do so. Early in his tenure, Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld, together with his team, were already considering limitations on the size of the F-22 force. Indeed, Rumsfeld did so ...
By Dov Zakheim
By Dov Zakheim
The Obama administration fought very hard to terminate the F-22 line of fighter aircraft, and in this respect it was right to do so. Early in his tenure, Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld, together with his team, were already considering limitations on the size of the F-22 force. Indeed, Rumsfeld did so even before U.S. forces became enmeshed in long wars against Afghan and Iraqi insurgents. The Defense leadership’s reasoning was the same then as it is today: F-22s are wonderful fighters, but given their expense and the demands for less costly and more numerous air-to-ground capable aircraft, we simply have enough of them.
With an Air Force budget that was already strapped for cash, and requirements for new tankers, and other capabilities, Secretary Gates was effectively confronted with the choice of continuing to expand the F-22 fleet at the expense of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). The latter not only will afford the United States the ultra-modern air-to-ground capability it needs in current and future combat environments, but also represents a joint effort with many of our closest allies. Reducing the JSF program in favor of the F-22 would certainly have alienated those very allies upon whom we rely for support in Afghanistan, and to whom we are likely to look for assistance in future combat environments.
Secretary Gates made the right choice, and he should be applauded for it.
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