The Air Force has worked up some numbers on what it will cost to add F-22s to the fleet beyond the three-year multiyear buy of 60 aircraft. Adding one more lot of 20 aircraft would cost $3.81 billion, for a flyaway cost of $153 million each. Boosting the one-year buy to 24 aircraft would cost $4.25 billion, for a flyaway cost of $144.2 million, or a per-airplane savings of about $9 million. The numbers come from an unclassified briefing given to staffers on Capitol Hill last week. The service is still working up the cost of a four-year multiyear at 24 per year—which would bring the fleet up to 283 aircraft—but service officials said they think doing so would trim unit costs by as much as $25 million per airplane.
We looked back on the past 12 months to find the stories that resonated the most with you, our audience, and these 10 topped the list. Maybe you missed one the first time around, or perhaps you’d like to revisit a favorite.