According to the Air Force’s new acting Secretary, Pete Geren, the service has no intention of pitting the F/A-22 against the F-35 in budget battles. Both new fighters are needed, Geren assured an audience in Dallas Friday. Lockheed Martin is producing both aircraft, but the seat of action for the Joint Strike Fighter is Fort Worth and for the Raptor Marietta, Ga. Let’s hope Geren wasn’t playing to a home audience.
A yearslong effort to find an affordable way to turn cargo planes into strike platforms is now an official program with anticipated fielding in 2027.