If you look closely at those pictures,you will notice a lot of old 60's fighters that are useless today (Phantoms,F-5,...
And by the way the F-22 production is likely to be stopped,only around 180 aircrafts have been produced.
By 2015 the USAF will face a critical real "fighter" gap,as there is no replacement for the aged F-15/16/18's fleet.Even the F-35 with its variants isn't eligible to be the backbone of the USAF.
A recent pentagon study stated that a Raptor will have few chances of surviving in a dogfight against an SU-30MK.(Pilots skills to be taken in consideration though)
And for the BVR (Beyond Visual range Capability)once the F-22 switch on his radar,he's virtually dead in front of a Sukhoi.
For more details read the latest "Combat Aircraft" issue No5,there is a very good article on the so-called Raptor's invincibility.
And the funny thing is that for 1 hour of flight,the special radar absorbing material coating needs 30 hours of maintenance,with appalling fleet readiness statistics.
If you look closely at those pictures,you will notice a lot of old 60's fighters that are useless today (Phantoms,F-5,...
And by the way the F-22 production is likely to be stopped,only around 180 aircrafts have been produced.
By 2015 the USAF will face a critical real "fighter" gap,as there is no replacement for the aged F-15/16/18's fleet.Even the F-35 with its variants isn't eligible to be the backbone of the USAF.
A recent pentagon study stated that a Raptor will have few chances of surviving in a dogfight against an SU-30MK.(Pilots skills to be taken in consideration though)
And for the BVR (Beyond Visual range Capability)once the F-22 switch on his radar,he's virtually dead in front of a Sukhoi.
For more details read the latest "Combat Aircraft" issue No5,there is a very good article on the so-called Raptor's invincibility.
And the funny thing is that for 1 hour of flight,the special radar absorbing material coating needs 30 hours of maintenance,with appalling fleet readiness statistics.