What you need to know: The decision to end the F-22 Raptor program early – to build only 195 of a planned 381 aircraft – remains controversial. Defense Secretary Robert Gates halted production in 2009, citing the Raptor’s “niche” role and budget constraints, favoring the next-generation bomber program.

-The F-22’s high performance in terms of air superiority and collegial threats such as China and Russia have advocates disappointed by Gates’ decision, especially given current global tensions.

-Although the USAF has successfully adapted with the F-35 and upgraded F-15EX, critics argue that cutting the F-22 program left a critical gap in US air power.

The F-22 Raptor program ended far too soon

Controversial, Touching Question: Was it F-22 Raptor 5th Generation stealth fighter program (one of Lockheed Martin’s many ingenious brain children legendary “Skunk Works” department) ended way too soon?

My erratic, equally controversial, cruel answer: Yes, it was.

I have been convinced of this since the summer of 2016 (during which time I just happened to be a contractor at Balad Airbase, Iraq, supporting Iraqi Air Force F-16 fighter jet in his fight against Islamic State/ISIS/ISIL/Da’esh), when I read the book “Air Power Abandoned: Robert Gates, the F-22 Raptor and the Betrayal of America’s Air Force,” by my dear late friend the late Robert F. “Bob” Dorr (September 11, 1939 – June 12, 2016). Bob was one US Air Force veteran and former Air Force Times columnist who I dare say is second only to the late one Martin Caidin (September 14, 1927 – March 24, 1997) as the most prolific military aviation writer of all time (fiction and non-fiction equal).

Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF) on the F-22

If you are an Air Force veteran and/or proponent of strong air power as the author and I both are/were, you will be frustrated and horrified when-Minister of Defense (SECDEF) Robert Gates incredibly short-sighted decided to suddenly kill F-22 Raptor program in April 2009 – after less than half of the required number of 381 were built short-term.

It is all well and good to emphasize our nation’s ability to fight counterinsurgency (COIN) wars in places like Afghanistan and Iraq, but that does not justify leaving our Air Force’s aging fighter fleet high and dry against “near peers” and “rogue state” adversaries like China, North Korea and revanchist Russia.

Mr. Dorr, despite his rightfully negative assessments of Gates’ actions as SECDEF, also says that Mr. Gates was a decent, honorable and patriotic American; that may well be the case, but after reading “Air Power Abandoned” I feel like I have a lot less respect for Bob Gates, that’s for sure.

The details (and Mr. Gates’ justification/rationalization)

The hard numbers: of the 381 F-22 aircraft originally planned, only 195 were actually built – eight test planes and 187 production models.

Secretary Gates’ official justification at the time was:

“There is no doubt that the F-22 has unique capabilities that we need – penetration and defeat of an advanced enemy air defense and fighter fleet. But the F-22 is really a niche, silver bullet solution required for a limited number of scenarios – that overcome advanced enemy hunters and anti-aircraft systems.”

Well, Bobby-Boy, in light of current events in the Eastern Europe and East Asia all the same, maybe that “number of scenarios” thing isn’t so limited after all, eh?

However, if you scratch the surface, it looks like there is more behind then SECDEF Gates’ decision than what he told the press. Retired US Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz stated in his 2018 memoir that it was motivated by the desire to make room within the USAF budget for the next generation Stealth bomberi.e. what we now know as B-21 Raider. Given the financial problems the Raider is now facing, it just makes killing the F-22 look even dumber.

Meanwhile, the US thankfully has another 5th generation stealth fighter in production, the F-35 Lightning II (coincidentally also a Lockheed Martin Skunk Works product), at its disposal. The problem is that the Lightning II has been notoriously plagued by controversial cost overruns and reliability issues (the American-owned warbirds, that is; for whatever reason, the Israelis and Aussies seem to have no such problems with their own F-35s). It also falls back on the upgraded 4.5 generation of the F-15, the F-15EX Eagle IIas a stopgap measure to fill the void left by the F-22 shortage.

What’s next for the F-22 Raptor?

As the saying goes, “If life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” or to use a synonymous mantra popular in the military, “Adapt, improvise. Seize.”

Consequently, the USAF is doing its best to make do with Raptors in has (178 of them, according to World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft (WDMMA)). This was most dramatically demonstrated on February 6, 2023, when the Raptor got his first air-to-air kill by finally shooting down the Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina a whole week after the intruder had invaded US airspace.

In the meantime, hopefully both the USAF, Navy, and Marine Corps will work these bugs out of their F-35s, and time will tell about the Air Force’s sixth generation Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter jet and/or “intentional Light Fighter concept” and/or the USN’s sixth generation F/A-XX fighter ever managed to get off the ground (literally and figuratively).

And Secretary Gates, if you happen to read this: Shame, shame, shame on you.

About the author

Christian D. Orr is senior defense editor forNational Security Journal(NSJ). He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a BA in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an MA in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from the American Military University (AMU). He has also been published inThe Daily Torch,Journal of Intelligence and Cyber ​​SecurityandEasy flight. Last but not least, he is a companion of the OrderNaval Order of the United States (NOUS).

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