The program also has seen rising costs: The unit cost for the F-22 was around $150 million in 2009, but some estimates put the per-plane cost at closer to $250 million in current dollars. The jet "has some limitations to it that you just can't modernize your way out of," Hinote said. While the F-22 is the dominant air superiority platform in the service's inventory, officials have admitted there are shortfalls, especially in maintenance. The Air Force has struggled with its F-22 fleet. "All those things are interrelated," he said. If the service can secure enough funding for the NGAD in the fiscal 2022 and future budgets, and subsequently prove the technology prior to 2030, F-22s will start heading to the aircraft boneyard, he said in an interview with last month. Clinton Hinote, the Air Force's deputy chief of staff for strategy, integration and requirements. When the F-22 retires will be decided by how quickly NGAD can be fielded, said Lt. Noticeably absent from Brown's list were the F-22 stealth fighter and F-15E Strike Eagle, hinting that their retirements are on the horizon. The venerable A-10 Warthog remains as the "plus one."
F 22 RAPTOR WIKIPEDIA PLUS
Charles "CQ" Brown has said the service intends to go with a "four plus one" model as it downsizes from its current seven fighter or attack aircraft fleets.ĭuring a panel discussion last month, Brown said the "four" are the F-35 Lightning II F-16 Fighting Falcon the F-15EX Eagle II, which entered the service's inventory in the spring and the Next Generation Air Dominance, or NGAD, program, which defies the traditional categorization of a single platform, featuring a network potentially including an advanced fighter aircraft alongside sensors, weapons or drones. The Air Force must make key decisions about which aircraft, and how many, it wants to sustain long term. The service is awaiting the completion of its "TacAir study," which will assess how future fighter concepts fit into the current mix of fourth- and fifth-generation fighters, before setting timelines for planned force structure moves related to the F-22, Worley added.
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