The Pentagon could remedy the biggest mistake in its history, the closure of the F-22 line, updating the Raptor for the sixth generation. There is already talk of an unofficial program called "Fenice".
The underlying problem stems from a miscalculation in the post-Cold War period, when the Defense Department was convinced that with the fall of the Soviet Union, there would be no future air threat. A completely wrong assessment, considering Chinese and Russian investments in new-generation fighters today.
We were optimistic - reads the Air Force report presented yesterday to the Senate Armed Services Commission - perhaps too much, but we were convinced that for a reasonable number of years, no country had been able to develop new generation platforms. Unfortunately, Russians and Chinese did it in half the time compared to what we had assumed.
"The S-400 anti-aircraft system represents an advanced threat to our fighters, we should continue to spend money to improve the capacity of the F-22 and F-15 while to maintain the technological gap with other nations, we must work right away to the sixth generation fighter ".
The "Raptor" issue is now well established. Having suspended F-22 production for only 187 specimens - said the Secretary of the Air Force Deborah James the 24 last January - it was one of the stupidest decisions on military procurement in the last few decades, nobody denies it anymore.
"The original plan was to produce quite a bit of F-22. Unfortunately, a series of regrettable circumstances and budget overruns anticipated the conclusion of the program. We just pulled the plug and closed the production line. Now let's focus on the F-35, even if it never does what it guarantees Raptor".
James also confirmed that the entire production line was not cannibalized, but kept in storage as well as all projects. But in recent weeks, the program Next Generation Air Dominance has been strongly placed right next to Raptor that "could rise from the ashes like a sixth generation platform".
It is always the Air Force that proposes the "Phoenix" program for the Next Generation Air Dominance. "We need a fighter from the 2030 and we may not have time to develop a new platform from scratch. That's why we could raise the F-22 project from the ashes and turn it into a sixth generation platform. The Air Force cannot afford the twenty-year development of a new platform, which is why it proposes the evolution of existing technology ".
The only fighter from the planet's aerial domain, the F-22 Raptor, it was built in exemplary 186 only, but only 123 are converted to combat. The rest of the fighters are classified as inventory machines, intended for testing or off-duty activities. The main problem is that the Air Force, considering the current threats and the contexts where the presence of a fifth generation platform is needed, would need 382 Raptor. The question is strictly numerical: the first hunt in the world for which the term "air domain" was coined, can not be everywhere.
The United States has six operational F-22 squadrons, but these are undersized compared to other combat units. The American standard squadron is based on 24 airplanes (F-16 or F15) PAA or Primary Authorized Aircraft and two in inventory BAI O Backup Aircraft Inventory. The five squadrons Raptor fighters have online 21 aircraft plus two in BAI. The only squadron Raptor of the National Guard, based in Hickam, Hawaii, is composed of eighteen F-22 and two in inventory. THE'Air Force Weapons School, in Nellis, has only thirteen Raptor for certification.
The Phoenix program could revive the new Raptor.
(photo: US DoD / Lockheed Martin)
