Given the long development time involved in the creation of next-generation weapons systems, nations cannot afford to wait for the opposition to make such advances, or to hope that they won’t. The F-22 concept dates to the mid-1980s, but it took nearly 20 years for the first operational F-22s to be delivered.
We now have about 180 F-22s in the Air Force inventory, with some 60 more on order. They are fast, stealthy and capable. In exercises against well-flown F-15 and F-16 aircraft they have been shown to be far superior, just as those F-15s could fly rings around the fighters of the 1950s.
The F-35 promises to represent a similar quantum leap beyond the F-16, the A-10 and the F/A-18, all of which it would ultimately replace.
In truth we need both capabilities. Supporters of the F-22 say its cancellation would cost some 95,000 jobs. That’s a valid argument, but it is not the central one. We need both the F-22 and the F-35 to assure that our Air Force remains unchallenged worldwide for decades to come.
The sweeping defense budget cuts outlined by the administration ignore one basic truth about defense policy: trimming here to upgrade there leaves you vulnerable here. There are solid reasons to increase America’s special operations and counterinsurgency forces in an era of terrorism, but to do so at the expense of other capabilities could leave us vulnerable to a future threat from a more traditional hostile power. Ironically, this decision was announced less than 48 hours after North Korea tested a missile that could deliver a nuclear warhead to American soil.
President Obama should allow the F-22 program to continue as he proceeds with development of the F-35. To cancel either of them would be to roll dice against the future.