[xkaydet65]

I agree, but I understand the reasons many are opposed. The F22 is an expensive program and as DoD budgets decrease the idea of putting that money into ground combat and support missions is understandable. There is also the belief that we are not about to engage China or any other nation that can field advanced aircraft in open hostilities.

Adversaries like Iran are still a generation behind in technology and triple that in pilot training and talent.I also noticed here on FR that a new stealthy F15 is being developed for foreign sales. It might be something for DoD to investigate. Nothing short of a UFO approaches the Raptor, but , even if produced in numbers USAF wants,it still fall far short of current fighter strength. I have also read in Ralph Peters columns that service availabilty of the current Raptor groups is below 60%.If true that is not a good indicator of combat readiness.

[allmost]

Stealthy F15? :)
I understand the detractors. When taken in context dead pilots and air inferiority are not an option. The tech advances alone are worth maintaining.