>planned to phase out f16 >cost billions >only around

>>32245711
(((lockheed martin)))

>>32245711
>planned to phase out f16

put more effort into your shitposting.

lockheed are greedy assholes

>>32245810
kek

>>32245711
>what went wrong?
Not good enough against China. It's an air superiority fighter but will fail to hold ground against Chinese photonic SAM and it does not have support against J-20 with AESA ships and Awacs.

>>32245711
It was the first of its kind, for one. The rest was mostly congress, doing what they do best; cutting orders to a sixth theor original size and then complaining when the cost stays high so they can bin the rest of them.

That's about it, really. In a sense it was always doomed simply for being the first of its kind, without the benefit of any lessons learned operating fighters of its ilk. At the same time, thanks to meddling politicians, much of what could have been done to improve F-22's longevity wasn't, for purely political reasons.

>>32247970
>not good enough against china
i could hurl a rock and the j20 would fall apart

>>32245711
Obama stopped production.

>>32245711
>planned to phase out F-15*
FTFY
>what went wrong?
Gates, Iraq, Afghanistan and a budget that needed $50 billion for MRAPs.

>>32247970

You're not wrong, but not for the reasons you think. The F22 does not have the required range to effectively fight in China, which is why the USAF is looking for a new fighter design to accompany the B21.

Because the US takes 30 years to design and build a fighter, that is obsolete when it arrives

>>32248682
The rest of the world waits 30 years, spends 8 to put out a fighter worse than the "obsolete" american one.

Heres to you, china÷