[Kenny Bunk]

Thanks. You have answered my question. If I understand the answer, the smart move would be to build more F-22s and forget about the F-35, of which we can afford what, 5 planes? The CHICOM must be ROTFLTAO.

I do not understand these procurements. For one thing, the number of units always seems ridiculously low. We own what, 20 F-22s? WTF good is that going to do for us in a real war? It's obvious that the brunt of combat duties for the next 10 years will still fall upon upgraded F-16s, F-15s, F-18s, which thank God we have in large numbers.

E.G., we own 19 B-2 Bombers. With 19 bombers we're going to take out Iran? I doan theenk so.

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Actually there are 187 F-22s in the USAF inventory. You are underestimating the B-2 capability.The bomber has a crew of two and can drop up to 80 JDAM GPS-guided bombs, or 16 B83 nuclear bombs in a single pass through extremely dense anti-aircraft defenses. The B-2 is the only aircraft that can carry large air to surface standoff weapons in a stealth configuration

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Correction:There are 168 F-22 planes as of October 2010.The projected plan is 187 planes.