by Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
The F-22 may be regarded as the most pre-eminent air superiority platform the world has ever seen, yet the high-profile Raptor almost became a new bomber platform.
F-22 Raptor Bomber?
In the challenging time during the height of the Cold War in the 1980s, there was no shortage of a need for stealth and integrated air attack given the threat posed by the Soviet Union. There was not only a need to elude advanced Soviet-designed air defenses but also to exact a catastrophic effect quickly to cripple an enemy.
At the time, the B-52 had run its course over several decades and had not yet been upgraded to the extent it is today. The B-2 Spirit had been cut short. Perhaps this means that the Pentagon sought to address the bomber deficit created by the decision to truncate B-2 production and massively reduce anticipated fleet size. The Cold War was nearing and at the time it may have seemed as though there was less of a need for a high-end stealth bomber such as the B-2.
Newly intensified U.S.-Russian tensions in the 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union may have resurrected the belief in a need for a larger stealth-bomb attack fleet, a circumstance that may have inspired thinking to adapt the emerging 1990s-era F-22 as a new bomber.
At the same time, however, there was a pressing need to make efforts to stay in front of the Russian Su-27 and Chinese J-10. The considerations of a bomber platform for the F-22 point to a bomber fleet deficit the Air Force is seeking to correct today.
The service has been working on a bomber-vector fleet strategy for many years as the B1-B bombers are approaching retirement, the highly effective and revered B-52 is of course non-stealthy and the B-2 fleet had been massively truncated at the end of the Cold War.
Senior Air Force leaders say there is still a need to address a service-wide bomber deficit, one reason why there is so much discussion about fast-tracking the B-21 Raider and possibly expanding the planned B-21 fleet size.
This also explains why the service continues such intense efforts to sustain and modernize its B-52, B1-B, and B-2 bomber fleet through upgrades and moves intended to ensure that the Air Force bomber force continues to present a significant threat to adversaries until sufficient numbers of the B-21 arrive.
At the time, there was also clearly a competing need for a new air-supremacy fighter, given the threat equation. However, in a manner quite similar to the rather sudden and unexpected reduction in the planned B-2 bomber fleet size, the service also cut F-22 production short of its original goal.
The end of the Cold War decreased the need for a large great-power strike platform, and decisions were made in the 1990s – a time period often referred to as a procurement holiday.
With the re-emergence of great power threats, some weapons developers are likely looking back with disappointment upon the decision to decrease the bomber and fighter jet fleet, given that the threat environment quickly shifted moving into great power competition.
Kris Osborn is the Military Affairs Editor of 19FortyFive and President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
