187 (now 186 with the recent crash) F-22's are enough, I think, for the next ten years or so. Beyond that, no one can say with any certainty, but that is true for pretty much system. That's the funny thing about the future - it's hard to predict!

What I think the most zealous opponents of the F-22 fail to consider, however, is that a modest number of aircraft means the follow-on to the F-22 could come a lot sooner than it otherwise would have.

The real risk with this plan is that the DoD is betting on the F-35, which is still a program in development. It seems to assume there will be no more problems and the aircraft will reach IOC on time, with all the advertised capabilities at the advertised cost (which keeps rising).