THE AIR FORCE’S PROBLEM IS BIGGER THAN THE F-22 VS. THE F-35
In last week's Half-Full Report (see the section on Debbie Does USAF), Jack asked me to comment about America's F-22A Raptor and F-35A/B/C Lightning II fighters. Namely: if the F-22 Raptor was the better fighter, why was it canceled in favor of the F-35?
Both fighters sit at the nexus of some pretty big assumptions and questions about US air power in the next few decades, so it's hard to give a brief answer, but I'm going to try.
In brief: Yes, the F-22 is a much better fighter than the F-35. Indeed, it remains the best fighter in the world by a wide margin. The flip side is that it can't perform some roles, costs a lot to maintain, and will cost quite a lot ($7 billion or more) to upgrade to modern standards.
But the bottom line is thatI don't think the core problem is F-22 vs. F-35. The core problem is...
