Not Enough F-22s: 6th-Gen NGAD Stealth Fighter Might Solve the Problem

By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

Despite many calls for a return to production, the F-22 line will not be resurrected due to a host of factors to include budget and the rapid and successful arrival of the Air Force 6th-gen stealth fighter. 

F-22 production stopped in 2011. However, a few years later, there were many prominent voices calling for a restart of the program – but it never happened.

A wide range of interwoven variables contributed to the eventual decision several years ago not to restart F-22 production. Senior Air Force leaders cited budget as the primary reason, yet many in Congress and at the Pentagon were calling for a massive restart of the F-22 program to expand the fleet to a more impactful size.

F-22: An Amazing Fighter Jet

When the F-22 blasted onto the scene in 2005, it was heralded as a first-of-its-kind breakthrough air supremacy platform.

While there are now roughly 169 F-22s currently, the original plan was to build a much larger fleet of stealthy F-22s Raptors. However, during the height of U.S. military counterinsurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan, F-22 production was cut short abruptly.

A great-power war possibility and the rising threat of China and Russia seemed to fade into the background beneath the fury of counterterrorism and counterinsurgency, so perhaps planners suffered from too much of a “here-and-now” kind of short-term vision.

In contrast, a longer-term assessment might have recognized the long-term threat China was already beginning to evolve into.

F-22 on the World Stage

Therefore, had the F-22 production line not been cut short far too soon, then a much more sizeable and daunting fleet would currently hold our adversaries at risk. Looking back on the Iraq and Afghanistan years, many Pentagon leaders and weapons developers regard the decision to stop F-22 production as a massive error.