![](https://centerforsecuritypolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/AdobeStock_115194740.jpg)
Pentagon wants to scrap not upgrade the fighters but they can still play a major deterrent role in the Pacific against China
The Pentagon wants to retire dozens of F-22s rather than upgrade them, with the Department of Defense saying it can use the US$1 billion or so saved to upgrade its forces elsewhere.
But these F-22s are very important and sending them into retirement when they can be a very effective deterrent for others is potentially a major mistake. Japan (like Israel) has long wanted F-22s, which can play a major deterrent role in the Pacific and challenge almost anything China throws at them.
If they are removed from service, these two dozen F-22s will go to the boneyard at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona. There, they will slowly rot in the sun and some of their parts may be scavenged by the Air Force.
The F-22 is a very capable and very expensive airplane. Brand new, the flyaway cost was $120 million when the first aircraft entered service in 2005. Translated into current dollars, the cost for a new one would be $182 million.
But the per plane cost also should include research and development, which would bring the 2005 cost to $334 million, or $507 million in 2022 dollars.
Calculated that way, the value of the two dozen F-22 aircraft the Air Force wants to retire is around $12.2 billion – assuming they were in good shape, which they are not.
The Air Force has admitted that the cost of upgrading all the F-22s planned for retirement would be just shy of $1 billion, a fraction of the investment so far.
Only the US has the F-22 and it remains a crucially important air superiority fighter.
The F-22 has a number of advantages compared with the cheaper, more tactical F-35. For starters, the F-22 has a smaller radar cross-section than the F-35, which sometimes is referred to as semi-stealthy. Moreover, the F-22:
- is far more maneuverable than the F-35,
- has a better thrust-to-weight ratio,
- has two engines instead of one (a significant safety factor),
- has greater firepower because the F-22 is a much larger platform and,
- can operate at a higher ceiling.
Again, it can serve as an air superiority fighter, which the F-35 is not. While the F-35 is among the slowest of modern jet fighters at Mach 1.6, the F-22 is among the fastest at 2.25 Mach.
Where the F-22 is not as modern makes for a shorter list:
- It does not have the more advanced electronics and computers of the F-35 and therefore is less suited to netcentric operations, and
- It does not carry certain types of weapons (although it can be modified for them).
- Secure enclaves: bad CHIPS Act idea wasting billions - August 12, 2024
- Europe makes missiles for Patriots as Israel retires them - May 9, 2024
- Israel’s attack on Iran: What we know so far - April 23, 2024