Here Is What It Would Take To Get The F-22 Production Line Going Again

F-22 production. Photo: Lockheed Martin

Marcus Weisgerber, Defense One: Want More F-22s? Here’s What That Would Take

Congress is inquiring about restarting the Raptor production line, cold for almost five years now.

U.S. lawmakers have asked the Air Force about the possibility of restarting production of the F-22 Raptor fighter jet, an endeavor that would be far more complicated than signing a check and flipping the lights back on.

In its review of the 2017 defense authorization bill, the House Armed Services Committee asked service leaders to look into what it would take to build 194 new Raptors, enough to finally meet the Air Force’s long-stated requirement of 381 jets. HASC chairman Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, and others say the world has changed since 2009, when Defense Secretary Robert Gates halted the F-22 program at 187 aircraft in order to double down on the multirole F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. For one thing, the stealthy, supercruising Raptor was expected to keep the U.S. as undisputed king of air-to-air combat for decades. That turned to be overly optimistic.

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WNU Editor: It will certainly not be easy .... but if the money is there, anything then becomes possible.