New Arms Race May Be In The Offing

Russia and China are pouring significant resources into developing new airplanes to challenge the U.S. F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II, according to reports, as well as new anti-aircraft capabilities.

In June, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein (pictured) said that one of the biggest challenges for the USAF is "the rise of peer competitors with advanced military capabilities rivaling our own,” according to Fox News. Soon thereafter, the F-35 was certified as combat-ready.

The F-22 was first fielded in 2005, and while it is considered an outstanding fighter, it has been beset with technical issues over its service life. But more than three-quarters of the aircraft currently being flown by the U.S. military date back to the 1970.

Meanwhile, Russia expects that it will deploy the first T-50 stealth fighters in 2018, and has already fielded Su-34 bombers and Su-35 fighters in Syria.

Meanwhile, China is also "rapidly closing the gap with Western air forces across a broad spectrum of capabilities," according to a Pentagon report issued earlier this year.

(Images from file)

FMI: www.af.mil