Retired Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz has stated in his new memoir that F-22 production was axed after building less than half the required number so that the flying force could get then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to approve building a new stealth bomber.
Gates made near-sighted decisions based upon focusing on Iraq and Afghanistan. He did not expect the quick rise of China’s stealth fighter programs.
The B-21 stealth bomber is part of a larger clandestine ecosystem (including a lot of advanced drones) of new penetrating air capabilities being developed to take on peer-state opponents and work in concert with the new bomber, as well as independently.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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