Comments by "Paul" (@Paul-lm5gv) on "Destiny" channel.

  1. Impressive! But...Lockheed Martin was commissioned to build only 195 planes and as of 2018 the Air Force had only 186 flyable F-22s in its inventory! From 'Forbes' magazine in 2020: "As recently as the early 2000s, the Air Force anticipated buying more than 400 F-22s in order to replace, on a one-for-one basis, all the F-15C Eagle fighters then in the inventory. Instead, Defense Secretary Robert Gates in 2009 abruptly ended Raptor production. “There is no doubt that the F-22 has unique capabilities that we need—the penetration and defeat of an advanced enemy air-defense and fighter fleet,” Gates explained at the time. “But, the F-22 is, in effect, a niche, silver-bullet solution required for a limited number of scenarios—to overcome advanced enemy fighters and air-defense systems,” Gates added. Within a few years, however, it was clear that Gates’ decision was premature. The explosive growth in Chinese military power and the appearance of Chinese and Russian stealth-fighter designs underscored the growing challenge to America’s command of the air. Older American planes such as the A-10 and F-16 could be vulnerable without adequate protection from F-22s. Meanwhile America’s other stealth fighter, the ground-attack-optimized F-35, proved to be a mediocre dogfighter. Design flaws also have limited the F-35’s ability to fly at supersonic speeds. Desperate to shore up its fighter numbers, the Air Force in its 2020 budget restarted acquisition of the Boeing BA -2.7% F-15 after a 16-year break."
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