You are taking me too literally. Rutan's bird is important to demonstrate a point, a concept, a change.
His SpaceShipOne does two things that the F-22 can't do: go sub-orbital and go Mach 6.
What is important is the concept. Since a *civilian* can go sub-orbital and Mach 6, one *must* conclude that future military fighters will likewise be able to at least match that level of technical competence...especially since Rutan did it for a mere $10 million.
Lets face it, that's mere pocket change. Professional militaries can throw a lot more money at the problem than that.
But Rutan is doing all of that this year. SpaceShipOne is already doing things that the F-22 can't.
So why spend Billions to lag behind the next (oops, current) leap in technology?
In current technology, our F-18 already wins. Our F-117 already wins. Our B-2 already wins. Nothing else can beat them. Having the F-22 or not having the F-22 changes nothing. We'd still simply have a fighter that beats all other current fighters. Well, we've already got that!
What we don't have is a fighter that can fly higher or faster than a civilian named Rutan.
Burt's laughing at you. He's flying over you. He's flying faster than you. Whoosh! He just flew right by you and outran even your fast ordnance. Ha Ha!
Why would you want to continue to spend Billions to be laughed at by civilians flying faster and higher than you?
And how long will it be before other militaries figure out that they can leapfrog a generation of technology by adapting Rutan's ideas into a low-cost fighter fleet?
Is this a statement you wish to be known for?
I think with that, I will take my leave.
I like the way you think. If Rhutan can build one for $10M, what do you think the per-unit cost would be for a production run of a thousand? $5M? $1M?
I'm going to assume that you are fairly intelligent on air doctrine. Given that assumption, I will also have to concede that you are fully aware of the practical limitations of sub-orbital, Mach 6+ flight vis-a-vis modern air doctrine.
So... just what the heck are you going on about?