We Need the Raptor for China: Speaking at an AEI forum, Michael Vickers of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments says the Air Force’s “job one” is “hedging against the rise of China.” He also had a simple prescription for carrying out this mission: Save the F/A-22. According to Vickers, the way to accomplish this feat is to scale back the F/A-22 program or kill “the big sucking chest wound” known as the Joint Strike Fighter.
It'll take up to 18 months for Lockheed Martin to deliver the 100 or so F-35s that went directly from production line to storage, awaiting the completion of Tech Refresh 3 testing. Customers haven't complained about the order in which the backlog is being delivered.