The F-22 is not required by America to defend itself. The only context in which the F-22 is relevant is if America decides to wage a foreign war against another country with an advanced military. Given the foreign wars waged over the past 10 years and their ill effects on America itself, I think perhaps the US should consider taking a break from international campaigns for at least the next couple of decades. If such a moratorium is realistic, at the end of it, the F-22 would have been 40 years old anyway and struggling to remain relevant.
The point is that America's defence at home against threats posed by nation states is assured. The security issues confronting the US are more about tiny little parcel bombs hidden in fedex packages, explosives in someone's underpants and the like. The F-22 is not about to sniff anyone's underwear anytime soon.
So, given that America is probably best served by not attacking another country in the near future, and that it is secure against invasions by foreign air forces at home, the F-22 is certainly overkill. The cost of a single aircraft, roughly $350M, means funding 70 new startups with $5M each. Even as per astronomical costs of highway construction in the US, it means almost 100 miles of new highways. As per 2010 US educational costs, this money can be used to educate 35,000 students for a year.
I just think that by redirecting these funds the US would stand a better chance of catching up with other nations' infrastructure, or improving education or even funding innovation (Startups, research etc.). The fact is that if America is threatened in the long term, it is not because of parcel bombs or Su-35s, it is because American children are no longer interested in building projects out of The Boy Mechanic, and are instead wasting their time with a variety of nonsensical activities. The real threat is that today, countries like Turkey, Saudi Arabia, China, UAE etc. all have far better public transportation, better infrastructure, newer roads and bridges etc. than the US. Infrastructure, education and innovation investments will make the US much stronger than a few F-22s. It is a shame, though, that the savings from the defence budget went into other military items.
By the way, I am very much in favour of defence spending and ensuring national security. I just think that by spending more than the rest of the entire world, the US overdoes it just a bit. I wish Pakistan could redirect more of its defence budget on education and development. Under Musharraf's watch, we did freeze mil budget increases and reinvested the money into the largest ever increase in development and education. Since then, we've had WoT bills, flood and earthquake relief and various other issues to tackle unfortunately. I do look forward to the near future when a NATO exit in Afghanistan will reduce our significant military expenses on the western border. Hopefully we will be able to go back to the Musharraf-era budgetary thinking...
