Bring Back The F-22! (A Commentary)

Two F-22 Raptors fly over the Pacific Ocean during a theater security mission. A Royal Australian Air Force pilot assigned to the 90th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, has had the opportunity to fly the F-22 Raptor as part of a pilot-exchange program. Master Sgt. Kevin J. Gruenwald / Air Force

From Defense Update:

Only two years after Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’ decision to end production of the F-22 Raptor at 187 aircraft, the program may be poised to rise like a phoenix from the ashes. When Gates made his decision, it was on the assumption that other countries — notably Russia and China — would not develop their own fifth-generation fighters for at least another decade or more. Yet, even as the Secretary met with his counterparts from the Chinese military, that institution announced the first test flight of the J-20, their entrant into the fifth-generation fighter competition. In addition, Russia has announced a cooperative program with India to build a similar aircraft, currently known as the T-50. Today, Secretary Gates’ threat projections look woefully wrong.

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More Commentary On The F-22

Could Chinese threat restore F-22 here? -- Business Journal
Chinese Stealth Fighter: J-20 Stealth Fighter vs. F-22 Raptor in 2018? -- Third Age
Obama’s Decision on the F-22 May Soon Hurt -- Lubbock Online