4 ms·
Not true. This topic is more complex then simply replacing the F-22 with F-35 as most government decisions on multi-million dollar projects with state interests
by Diesel555 6y ago
Not true. This topic is more complex then simply replacing the F-22 with F-35 as most government decisions on multi-million dollar projects with state interests in mind are.
The F-22 was cancelled because the military thought that they didn't needed to spend the money on air superiority fighters and wanted to use the money elsewhere (drones and bombers). I don't think the F-35 was in the discussion that much... they fired the top leaders of the Air Force at this time.
Robert Gates killed the F-22 and fired the chief of staff of the Air Force Moseley and secretary Wynne. Since then we knew it was a mistake and tried to restart the F-22 line. It didn't make sense for cost.
Gates has his own book Duty which references this quite a bit and is a great political read https://www.amazon.com/Duty-Memoirs-Secretary-at-War/dp/030794963X https://www.amazon.com/Duty-Memoirs-Secretary-at-War/dp/0307...
And there is another book that argues it was a bad idea. https://www.amazon.com/Air-Power-Abandoned-Betrayal-Americas/dp/0986320013 https://www.amazon.com/Air-Power-Abandoned-Betrayal-Americas...
Also:
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/20472/retired-general-says-f-22-production-was-killed-so-that-a-new-bomber-could-live https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/20472/retired-general-...
https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2018/05/10/former-air-force-chief-of-staff-talks-rpas-budget-cuts-and-his-regrets-about-shrinking-the-force/ https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2018/05/10...
This one is funny because they talk about the increased costs of the B-2 due to cutting it early..... as they cut the F-22.
https://www.airforcemag.com/schwartz-in-memoir-says-f-22-was-traded-for-b-21-bomber/ https://www.airforcemag.com/schwartz-in-memoir-says-f-22-was...