Rebirth of a technological power

USA.

A factory.

This is where Lockheed Martin and Boeing jointly developed the F22.

Since 2011, it felt that the F22 was invincible in the air, the performance of the F22 was too advanced, and the unit price was too high. The military decided not to purchase F22 fighters. Then the United States closed the F22 fighter production line and turned to the development and production of the F35.

At that time, the F35 was undoubtedly much cheaper and more than adequate.

Therefore, Lockheed Martin officially shut down the F22 production line in 2011 and sealed the related technology and equipment.

The head of the Air Force, the head of procurement and others came here.

As the world's first fourth-generation fighter jet, according to the latest classification method, it is a fifth-generation fighter jet. The F22 is still very advanced.

Many people compare the F35 with the F22 and believe that the performance and cost-effectiveness of the F35 exceed the F22.

In fact, this is not right, because the F35 is a multi-purpose fighter, while the F22 is a heavy fighter!

With the advent of the J-20 and Su-57, the US Air Force is also feeling the pressure.

So I want to restart the F22 production line.

This time they came here to inspect and discuss the order.

In fact, Lockheed Martin wanted to restart the F22 production line a few years ago, but it has not been successful.

Although the relevant drawings and technology of the fighter planes have been completely preserved, the production of the fighter planes is still very difficult!

Lockheed Martin has calculated that resuming production of the F22 is not much easier than re-developing a new fighter jet for the US military, and requires a large investment.

According to estimates by Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Air Force, if it really restarts the F22 production line, it will cost at least 15 billion U.S. dollars. In addition, the U.S. Air Force cannot produce the F22 endlessly. At most, it will have to stop production of dozens more. This makes the unit price of the fighter aircraft extremely uneconomical.

And even if 15 billion US dollars is invested, it will only restart Lockheed Martin's production line, which does not mean that the F22 can be produced!

Modern fighter aircraft is a highly systematic project. Behind a fighter aircraft may be thousands of different suppliers and contractors!

Since the closure of the F22 production line, the original suppliers and contractors have either gone bankrupt or transformed into other businesses.

If you want to re-produce F22 fighter jets, you must get all suppliers and contractors to work together. The investment required is far more than 15 billion US dollars.

This time, the military is very determined to restart the F22 fighter production line and restart the production of F22!

There is no way. According to speculation, the number of Chinese J-20s now exceeds 200!

And this is the most conservative calculation. The real data may be 250 or even 300 aircraft.

"Paul, to be honest, you shouldn't have listened to that director in the first place. You made the biggest mistake in history and shut down the F22 production line." Lockheed Martin President James said angrily.

Although it had already completed the F35, Lockheed Martin was not willing to shut down the F22 production line.

After all, you can make money at the same time!

Only children's world has multiple-choice questions, but adults' world always requires everything.

Lockheed Martin is no exception.

As the world's number one weapons manufacturer, one can imagine Lockheed Martin's position among the world's arms dealers. It can make more money, so why wouldn't Lockheed Martin be willing to do so?

During the entire World War II, Lockheed Martin produced nearly 20,000 aircraft, accounting for 60% of the total U.S. aircraft manufacturing during World War II, including 2,600 Ventura, 2,700 B-17 Flying Fortress, 2,900 Harbin Dexun and 9,000 Lightnings.

Since the war, Lockheed Martin has developed the C-130 'Hercules' medium transport aircraft series, the C-141 transport aircraft long-range jet transport aircraft, the C-5 transport aircraft 'Galaxy' heavy transport aircraft, and the C-2 transport aircraft 'Greyhound'.

This is only the field of military transport aircraft. In the field of fighter jets, the F-16, F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter, F-22 Raptor, F-35, and P38 Lightning fighter jets have been developed.

In the field of rockets and missiles, the P38 Lightning fighter developed the Hercules rocket, the HGM-25A ballistic missile "Hercules" intercontinental missile, the Trident_II missile, and the UGM-96A ballistic missile Trident series submarine-launched ballistic missiles.

In the field of reconnaissance aircraft, there are U-2 reconnaissance aircraft and SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft ‘Blackbird’.

Previously, Lockheed Martin controlled 40% of the world's defense market. One-third of the Pentagon's annual procurement budget was used to pay for its orders. At the same time, Lockheed Martin controlled almost all the production and launch of military satellites in the United States. It is truly and indisputably the 'number one giant' in the world's arms!

At this time, James couldn't help but take the opportunity to express his bitterness.

To be honest, it made sense for the relevant departments to consider it at the time. After all, there are three-generation aircraft such as F15, F16, and F18, plus 187 F22s. The US military does not need too many F22s. It only needs to gradually replace the third-generation aircraft with F35. It can continue to dominate the sky for decades.

But no one expected that the J-20 and Su-57 would be born one after another, and their numbers would continue to grow rapidly. Especially for the former, the number growth would be extremely terrifying.

But now, James has to play the role of a good owner and gain more benefits.

"President James, this time we come with sincerity." Peter said with a smile: "We will allocate 30 billion US dollars for you to restart the production line, and we will allocate 100 billion US dollars to support those suppliers and contractors. !”

"I believe that with this money, the Raptor fighter jet will definitely be rejuvenated."

There was no change in James's face. He had already had such a deep connection with Lockheed Martin.

"Where are the orders? How many orders are you willing to provide?" James said.

"An order for 300 F22s, I think this is enough for your production for more than ten years!" Peter said.

James suddenly smiled.

An F22 fighter jet cost almost US$330 million in 2010. Considering inflation, US$400 million per aircraft is not too much.

300 F22 fighter jets, that’s a $120 billion business.

Sure enough, we still have to sleep on the bridge so that everyone can have a good life.

Look at that political amateur who knows everything, forcing them to lower the unit price of the F35. This is simply blocking their financial path.

Subsequently, the two parties signed an agreement. No matter what, it is most practical to get the special appropriation of US$30 billion first.

Life has been difficult for everyone these past few years.

That is to say, this year, there is a place to settle accounts, and life becomes easier.

After the news reports came out, many people were in an uproar.

Unexpectedly, the US military would spend such a high price to restart the F22 production line.

Military experts have commented on the restart of the F22 production line, analyzing the reasons, prospects and the impact it will have.

After all, no matter what, the reputation of F22 is there.

Even though the F22 production line has been closed for 11 years, the F22 is still the most prestigious fourth-generation fighter jet in the world, and it has also been ranked first in the combat effectiveness rankings over the years.