I've long argued that I'm fine with two wings of F-22 aircraft for this role (plus whatever number of planes we need for training new pilots and spares for attrition). So that's 142 frontline aircraft plus that extra. I really don't know what that extra should be. Is it the balance to 187 (45), the number we are committed to building, enough for those tasks?
Which is why I've been ambivalent about the push by Congress and the plane's supporter to build, what, 60 more? I can see that 45 aircraft could be cutting it close as trainers and attrition replacements (plus being available in war to add to the frontline strength), but isn't 105 a rather lot in that role? We have a big defense budget, but it isn't large enough for everyone's wish list--or even everone's got-to-have list.
So this news from Strategypage about efforts to format early model F-22s for ground attack is interesting:
The air force sees the F-22, using AESA for finding a target for its SDBs, as a formidable ground attack system. One reason for doing this is that first 63 F-22s built are not able to handle another upgrade that will enhance air-to-air performance. Thus these F-22 "mud fighters" will be useful for ground attack missions, especially those that require some stealth.
This could explain a lot. If 63 of our 187 F-22s can't be upgraded over the life of the aircraft for their main mission of air-to-air combat, we won't have two wings of the best Raptors for air defense over the life of the aircraft. The administration doesn't care about the long-term since all the F-22s will remain the best in the short run, and we've adopted a new Ten-Year Rule for our military.
Building 60 more or so Raptors will make sure we have two wings of stealth fighter aircraft--what I think is the prudent minimum--while the upgrades to the first aircraft will fill the role of our retired F-117s that had filled the stealth strike role.
I'm just connecting dots here, so I don't know if this is why there is an effort to get more Raptors aside from wanting to retain jobs or overkill. But it makes sense to want the right two wings as the leading edge of our air defense efforts.
