History serves as a stark reminder of the implications of neglecting air superiority, a mistake America must not repeat with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter because it did with the F-22 Raptor.
In 2009, the F-22 program was abruptly cancelled after the production of only 187 aircraft — 1 / 4 of the originally planned 750 fighters. This short-sighted decision left the U.S. Air Force with a diminished capability to keep up air superiority within the face of evolving threats from the main military adversaries, China and Russia.
Created as America’s premier air superiority fighter, the F-22′s stealth capabilities, speed, and agility were designed to dominate any adversary. Nevertheless, ongoing fiscal concerns and a miscalculation of the evolving capabilities of our adversaries led to its early termination.
Today, we’re at a crossroads with the F-35. Some in Congress are threatening further cuts to the F-35 program as a consequence of budgetary pressures and delays in software upgrades often known as Block 4/Technical Refresh 3.
We cannot let history repeat itself.
It is solely imperative that Congress learns from past mistakes and ensures that F-35 production is maximized to bolster national defense and maintain our strategic advantage over our adversaries.
During my time as NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, I witnessed firsthand the evolution of aerial warfare and the indispensable role that fifth-generation aircraft just like the F-22 and F-35 play in modern conflict.
Within the years because the F-22′s cancellation, the F-35 has emerged because the cornerstone of U.S. and allied airpower. The F-35′s ability to stay undetected, provide pilots with unprecedented situational awareness, and to shut the sensor-shooter kill chain quickly make the aircraft a peerless adversary.
The F-35′s role the previous few years in maintaining deterrence has been indispensable. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, allied F-35s have been instrumental in identifying Russian air defense systems and securing NATO airspace from incursions from Russian aircraft. Joint exercises with U.S. and NATO F-35s have also demonstrated the alliance’s ability to reply to aerial threats quickly and effectively.
In peacetime, tactical aircraft — fighters — are generally in much higher demand than other weapons platforms to point out resolve, police airspace, etc. And if war comes, fighter aircraft can be the tip of the spear for America and her allies, as our doctrines depend on the establishment of air superiority.
From the P-51 Mustang, which played a pivotal role in securing air superiority over Europe at the top of World War II, to the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon, which were deployed to counter the Soviet Union’s numerical advantage through the Cold War, history is replete with examples of the critical importance of a strong fighter force.
Today, we’ve significant demand for tactical aircraft within the Indo-Pacific, within the European theater, and within the Middle East — not to say homeland defense.
While the demand for tactical aircraft is sort of bottomless, the provision is just not. The Air Force’s current fighter inventory is the oldest and smallest it has ever been. The advanced age of our tactical aircraft fleet has a deleterious impact on cost and readiness, not to say survivability.
The F-35 is solely the one allied stealth fighter in production that meets the demands of contemporary warfare. Its advanced capabilities make it the popular alternative for over 20 nations world wide, from the UK to Japan.
Yes, there are frustrating delays in TR-3 technology upgrades to the F-35, as the GAO recently highlighted. Those upgrades will maintain and extend the F-35′s advantage over any adversary, but even now the F-35 stays the dominant fighter within the sky.
Pulling back on F-35 orders might feel good, but it surely’s not the responsible solution. Don’t repeat the mistakes made with the F-22 program. The premature cancellation of the F-22 program left a void in our Air Force, whose repercussions we’re still feeling today.
Within the late Nineteen Thirties, America saw the gathering storm and commenced to re-arm. Within the early Nineteen Eighties, America answered the growing threat of the Soviet Union and its satellites with a buildup that ultimately helped peacefully bring down the Warsaw Pact.
Today, we face a worldwide threat environment on par with those moments.
That global threat environment demands we construct as many F-35s as we will, as fast as we will. To do otherwise is to ask aggressors to take their best shot. That will, indeed, be history repeating itself.
Philip Breedlove is a retired Air Force general and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe.