Why did F-22 stop production?

The complaints ran along two, interrelated fronts: onerous costs and limited usability concerns. Part of the problem is that there is no universally agreed-upon way to calculate the F-22’s price. The Raptor’s fate was sealed when, with President Obama’s support, the Senate voted in 2009 to stop further F-22 production.

Will the F-22 go back into production?

On 9 June 2017, the Air Force submitted their report to Congress stating they had no plans to restart the F-22 production line due to economic and operational issues; it estimated it would cost approximately $50 billion to procure 194 additional F-22s at a cost of $206–$216 million per aircraft, including approximately …

When was the last F-22 built?

The last produced F-22 was delivered in 2012 and 183 F-22 aircraft are currently in service with the USAF. Lockheed Martin received a $7bn five-year contract to maintain the USAF fleet of F-22 Raptor stealth fighters, in December 2019.

Is it feasible to export the F-22?

The service also determined that it was still “technically feasible” to develop an export version of the F-22, potentially helping to share the cost burdens and reduce the unit costs even further. The report cites a separate 2010 Air Force study that estimated the costs of doing just that.

How much does it cost to build an F-22?

The production budget would rise to $45 billion. Research, development and testing of the aircraft cost about $18 billion, raising the total cost to about $63 billion. The acquisition board also cut the total number of F-22s to be produced from 331 to 295.

Does the Air Force need more F-22s?

Finally, in early 2016, the debate surrounding the need for more F-22s came to a head and study was mandated by Congress for the USAF to research what putting the super-fighter back into production would take. That study was finished in late 2016 with some of its findings openly discussed, but the document itself remained classified, until now.

How many raptors will it take to restart F-22 production?

Working primarily with RAND’s conclusions from 2011, the Air Force crafted the following cost estimates and assumptions for what it would take to restart F-22 production and produce 194 additional Raptors: