#f-22

The F-22 Raptor program began in the early 90s and has cost a total of, according to one source, $32.4 billion dollars. It has been by most metrics a complete failure which has failed to produce a viable multirole air superiority fighter. It has - by the act of replacing certain obsolete aircraft but then being cancelled after the aircraft it replaced were retired - punched holes in the USAF's lineup that the F-35, its successor, cannot fill. It also has the dubious distinction of its production process being so monstrously fucked that it would, at this point, cost less money to invent a new aircraft than to restart F-22 production.

Until today, it had zero confirmed kills. It now has one - an unarmed, unmanned balloon.

Lockheed F-117 Night Hawk, Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit and Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor.

An F-22A Raptor from the 95th Fighter Squadron at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., flies over the Nevada Test and Training Range during Red Flag 15-3 at Nellis AFB, Nev., July 31, 2015. Red Flag gives aircrews and air support operations service members from various airframes, military services and allied countries an opportunity to integrate and practice combat operations.