How many F-22s does US need?

The Hill:

The general nominated to become the next Air Force chief of staff favors preserving the production line for F-22 Raptor fighter jets — a top priority for Lockheed Martin but slated for closure.

During his nomination hearing on Tuesday, Gen. Norton Schwartz signaled he could support building more than 183 F-22s. He said 183 Raptors “is not the ceiling on the low end.”

At the same time, he told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the 381 Raptors the previous Air Force leaders and other officials were pressing for within the Pentagon and on the Hill would be “too high.”

The F-22 Raptor has been part of a rift over acquisition priorities between the Air Force and the Office of the Secretary of Defense, which has criticized the service for aggressively pursuing funds not requested in the president’s budget. The differences over funding contributed to the forced resignations of former chief of staff Michael Moseley and former Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne, although the two officials were mainly held accountable for a series of mishaps involving nuclear weapons and parts.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates wants the Pentagon to focus on weapons that serve ground forces, and does not believe more than 183 F-22s are needed. He argues they were designed to fight more of a conventional enemy instead of the insurgents the U.S. is fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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I think he was trying to leave himself some wiggle room. If the Defense Department were really interested in ground support planes they would be developing a replacement for the A-10 which has been one of the most effective ground support planes in the arsenal. It is much more effective than the Apache helicopter in fighting massed tanks and it has been very useful in supporting ground combat units in both Iraq and Afghanistan. The next plane in development right now is the F-35 which is basically an F-16 replacement. We need to have a mix of air superiority weapons as well as ground support weapons. We also need the capacity to attack anti air missiles. The F-22 is slotted to replace the F-117 in that mission.