I know this is way off topic, but curious to see how you think the F-22 fits into this. I always wondered why they stopped production when it seems to still be the most capable fighter we have. Maybe you have more insight into this than I do.
Because SECDEF Gates was working for the Russians and Chinese. F-22 was meant to replace one-for-one the F-15C fleet, which was an initial order for 750 aircraft.
The Russians and Chinese really hated the F-22 once they got word from their internal moles on how it actually worked once we did tactical exploitation of it out in the Nevada Test & Training Range complex. It didn’t matter what threat air did in the exercises, the stealth and its LPI datalink actually worked. The test pilots (all F-15C Fighter Weapons School patch wearers and some MiG-killers) started having contests to see how quickly they could slay F-15Cs and F-16Cs. They did one set where they killed 12 of them in 2min 22sec, without being seen.
The problem the F-22 presented for China and Russia was that any US Theater Commander could erase any threat air within his AOR at his pleasure, with no real worry of losses on our end. So they had to kill it before we could go into FRP (Full-Rate Production), which is exactly what Gates did. Keep in mind SECDEF Gates began his campaign to kill the F-22 when he was under W. Bush, and Obama kept him on. That was really rare for such a radical Democrat candidate to keep on a Republican’s SECDEF.
We invested $31 Billion into ATF RDT&E before even going into Low Rate Initial Production, and the USAF was denied the opportunity to capitalize on that huge investment. Multiple USAF Chiefs of Staff fell on their swords and sacrificed their command to try to save the F-22 and go into FRP, but Gates had his marching orders and was hellbent on killing it.
