I don't feel there is any problems selling the F-22A to our best allies. I felt is was short sighted to not sell the F-22 to Japan, Israel and, Australia. I never bought the selling line, to terminate the program that the F-22A was so advanced that out 'potential' opponents would not be able to produce a comparable fighter until 2020 or 2025.
The USA had piddled around sin2. I know that Russia started serious work on the T-50 in the year 2000 the beginning since the first studies in 1981. Taking so long to develop the F-22A and previously the YF-23.
The GRU and the KGB and other intelligence agencies, Chinese intelligence continued their attitude as though the Cold War still exist. Collecting information since 1981 from any source that they could obtain information by any means.
According to the folks in the F-35 forum at URL;
http://www.f-16.net/f-16_forum

While the fans (pilots crew chief's etc. on that forum) say the F-35 is very capable in the air to air role but not as capable as the F-22. There have been some exercises in which the F-35 had problems with the Typhoon in BVR. Now, what were the ROEs?? Who knows how advanced the F-35 really is in exercises in which there are no ROEs. How capable will they be "if" the F-35 will be able to deal with the J-20, T-50 or some country that purchased the Typhoon or Rafale to a country that changes government and are now enemies of the USA, UK, etc.?

NOW.... the customers and partners for the F-35 program, what are they to do? If Israel or Japan who have committed to purchase Z number of F-35s at $XXXX.00, what do they to reduce their purchase of F-35s now and purchase F-22s???? Especially if the F-22A was their original choice.

The F-22 should go to israel, australia, and japan.Personally I would give australia the full US version, while japan and israel would have some equipment deleted on theirs, so that they would add indigenous equipment to replace the stuff that got deleted. It would be kind of like how japan and israel modded their eagles because certain equipment was deleted there too.

People playing in the Dead Threads again....
My understanding is sales of F-22s to Allies was blocked by one Democrat Senator who wanted to use the hold as leverage to get something passed he wanted. Point is now moot, assembly line is gone & manufacturer says it can't or won't be remade to continue production.

HOLY THREAD RESSURECTION BATMAN!!!

Originally Posted by George

People playing in the Dead Threads again....
My understanding is sales of F-22s to Allies was blocked by one Democrat Senator who wanted to use the hold as leverage to get something passed he wanted. Point is now moot, assembly line is gone & manufacturer says it can't or won't be remade to continue production.

There was no one man who stopped the program from being exported or developed at a proper rate, it was a lack of support through out the life of the program. At this time congress worked a lot more together -bi-partisan. This was a major screw-up by bunches.
The program started during President Reagan's administration. It was never a high priority though, program since it started back in 1981. It started as a program to replace the F-15 but, the F-15 had such a technical superiority it remained a program with low priority. In 1982 the Israeli AF verified the advantage of the F-15 over the MiGs in the air battles over the Bekaa Valley, where it shot down dozens of MiGs... without the loss of a single F-15s! Many in the USAF felt an up-graded avionics for the F-15s and F-16s would be all that would be needed for the future.
Then US intelligence found out the Soviet AF was having real delay problems in the development of the MiG-29s and the Su-27s. The Su-27 program was stopped and restarted in 1981, they lost four test planes and test two pilots! All this time the ATF program remained on the back burner. The program suffered another loss of support from the USN in Dec. 1990 President HW Bush's -Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney cancelled the USN's A-12 stealth bomber program! In 1993 President Clinton ordered that the YF-22 / YF-23 that the program should to be restructured. The manufacturers and sub-contractors were told the total production be cut at least in half (in steps) and delayed by at least by seven years! The original schedule for the F-22 was it was to become operational in 1994-1995!
All these low priority and slowed development meant the price would at least triple and the production dropped (in steps) from 750 down to 187 fighters.
President G.W. Bush did not increase the priority of the program and by this time Congress was complaining about the cost. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was cutting most anything that he could. President Obama's Secretary of Defense continued Robert Gates continued what Rumsfeld and, other secretaries of state had been doing. All these people and their misjudgments have cost this country dearly in time and money. It was never a program that had much going for it other than the USAF.

House Votes to Let Allies Buy Top U.S. Fighter?

That's nice of them.

Originally Posted by AVON

There was no one man who stopped the program from being exported or developed at a proper rate, it was a lack of support through out the life of the program. At this time congress worked a lot more together -bi-partisan. This was a major screw-up by bunches.
The program started during President Reagan's administration. It was never a high priority though, program since it started back in 1981. It started as a program to replace the F-15 but, the F-15 had such a technical superiority it remained a program with low priority. In 1982 the Israeli AF verified the advantage of the F-15 over the MiGs in the air battles over the Bekaa Valley, where it shot down dozens of MiGs... without the loss of a single F-15s! Many in the USAF felt an up-graded avionics for the F-15s and F-16s would be all that would be needed for the future.
Then US intelligence found out the Soviet AF was having real delay problems in the development of the MiG-29s and the Su-27s. The Su-27 program was stopped and restarted in 1981, they lost four test planes and test two pilots! All this time the ATF program remained on the back burner. The program suffered another loss of support from the USN in Dec. 1990 President HW Bush's -Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney cancelled the USN's A-12 stealth bomber program! In 1993 President Clinton ordered that the YF-22 / YF-23 that the program should to be restructured. The manufacturers and sub-contractors were told the total production be cut at least in half (in steps) and delayed by at least by seven years! The original schedule for the F-22 was it was to become operational in 1994-1995!
All these low priority and slowed development meant the price would at least triple and the production dropped (in steps) from 750 down to 187 fighters.
President G.W. Bush did not increase the priority of the program and by this time Congress was complaining about the cost. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was cutting most anything that he could. President Obama's Secretary of Defense continued Robert Gates continued what Rumsfeld and, other secretaries of state had been doing. All these people and their misjudgments have cost this country dearly in time and money. It was never a program that had much going for it other than the USAF.

There was an article in Air Force Magazine that was saying that while the F-22 was in regular production, not talking about the extended development, there was a "hold" in place on FMS by a Senator, seems unreasonable that one person could derail sales, but that's what it said.