The Pentagon’s latest Aircraft Procurement Plan states that the Air Force will keep its F-22 the “premier air-to-air fighter aircraft by spending $4.5 billion on modernization” over the next 10 years. Previous DOD estimates of that number—particularly when the Pentagon was pushing Congress to terminate F-22 production at 187 aircraft—said there was $7 billion programmed for F-22 enhancements. According to the plan, the Air Force will concentrate its procurement dollars on the F-35A, procuring 603 from Fiscal 2012 to Fiscal 2021. That leaves some 1,100 F-35s still to buy in the 2020s under USAF’s program of record for 1,763 units. The service also expects to recapitalize its long-range cargo and bomber aircraft in the 2020s (see below). (2011 Aircraft Procurement Plan) (For more background on the F-22 modernization, see The New Playbook from Air Force Magazine’s archives.)
Every year, Congress and the military debate which combat assets should head to the boneyard and which have more life left in them. Lawmakers often opt to keep Air Force systems that bring jobs to their districts, which complicates matters as the service looks to modernize and ditch certain platforms.…