Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday called the F-22 “in effect, a niche, silver-bullet solution required for a limited number of scenarios.” Speaking to an audience at Air University on the grounds of Maxwell AFB, Ala., Gates acknowledged that “the F-22 has unique capabilities” to penetrate and defeat enemy air defenses and advanced fighters, but he still maintains that a fleet of 187 F-22s, when factored with plentiful F-35s and unmanned strike aircraft like the MQ-9 Reaper, are sufficient to meet projected threats and demonstrate “a serious commitment to maintaining US air supremacy.” Our question: Since when is a capability to provide air superiority—or wrestle it from an adversary in contested airspace—regarded as a niche capability? We consider air superiority the underpinning of successful US combat operations. Why would one risk forfeiting that asymmetric advantage to a potential adversary? (Full transcript of Gates’ comments)
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.