I would Never defend him.. he was a pain the butt when he was PACAF commander... and his sudden elevation to Chief of Staff after the the General Dugan incident during Desert Shield caused allot of "wakes" in Korea.
Then when he started to tweak his changes after Desert Storm.. OMG.. So I dislike the General.. and if I met him around here in the Portland, OR area.. I would turn away immediately. He helped Clinton turn the USAF into a "nation building pizza delivery force" with all the humanitarian missions in the 1990's.
But He is right.. the F-22 is stealthy compared to any other aircraft in the inventory. (The F-117 is now in mothballs). It is more agile than any aircraft in our inventory. It would give our fighter pilots a edge in any engagement with its weapon system and vector thrust controls as well as being "stealthy" to enemy radars.
Meanwhile our present F-15's are developing problems in their airframes. Remember the problem in about 18% of them that was found when one fell apart in mid-air last year?
The F-16 and F-15's are basically 1974 and 1977 technologies that have been upgraded over the years. Europe is developing their Typhoon's... to replace the 1970 era Tornado's. Russia continues to create new aircraft, even China is experimenting with new airframes.
This country is going to fall behind.. but in this age of Obama and "socialization"... it will continue. McPeak is right.. the F-22 is needed.. the F-35 is needed too..