Something has to be wrong with this picture, I mean they already have a truly superior manned fighter in the F22... What the hell are they doing?
Redistributing the wealth. Follow the funding for proof.
Reminds me of the time old Adoph tried to turn the Me 262, a bomber killing jet fighter into a fighter bomber—it was not designed for. They tried to make the F-35 a one of a kind—do all ship. Better to buy the Su—35 from Russia.
The slightly conspiracy-theory
-ish reasoning I ascribe it to is that the F-22 was too good at its role: air superiority.
A crap-basket like the F-35, designed to do everything (and therefore not capable of excelling in any particular role), on the other hand would always require more investment to "make it better". — IOW, the support on the F-35 would be guaranteed if any number of them are put in service.
Compare and contrast with the M-16 and how much has been spent on "improving" it.
The F-22 is pretty much exclusively an air-superiority fighter. High and fast. The F-35 is *supposed* to do the rest of the roles, the ones the F-22 isn’t good at, like CAS, carrier, fighter-bomber, etc.
The F-35 was never intended as an air superiority fighter. Its role is primarily strike/CAS, and unlike many previous aircraft in this role, its stealth allows it to do things that no other plane in this role could do before. Its stealth capabilities also render the superior manoeuvrability of other fighter aircraft a moot point in most cases. I’d love to see how it compares to a Eurofighter in the air superiority role.