During a May 19 House Armed Services Committee budget hearing, several lawmakers questioned Gen. Norton Schwartz, Chief of Staff, about curtailment of F-22 production at only 187 aircraft and insistence by DOD officials that those 187 aircraft met military need. In one instance, Schwartz’s response was short and sweet: “Two forty-three is the right number and 187 is the affordable force.”
Army Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli, head of U.S. European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe, warned that Russia would remain an enduring threat to NATO and global security, regardless of the outcome of the war in Ukraine.