United States Lacks F-22 Fighter Jets - Air Combat Command

The US Air Force does not have enough F-22 tactical aircrafts, and might become a regional force in the future, US Air Combat Command Commander Gen. Herbert Carlisle said on Friday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — F-22 Raptors are the fifth generation fighter jets, which are fully operational and include advanced stealth technology and highly-integrated computer systems.

“There was certainly a belief, not at the Air Force, mind you, that we had enough F-22s. I know we don’t, in my opinion, have enough of those,” Carlisle said at the US Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC.

Carlisle stated that the US Air Force has turned to be the smallest in the history since it became a separate service in 1947.

“We just simply don’t have enough capacity to do everything we need to do in support of the global fight,” he added.

Carlisle warned if resources kept shrinking under sequestration that limited Pentagon’s budget expenditure, the US air fleet would become a regional force by 2020.

“We will be regional, only because we can only respond to one region at a time, because we won’t have the capacity to do as many things as we are asked to do,” he said.

The US general urged the public to have discussions with the elected officials on whether the United States wanted to stay engaged around the world or was willing to stand back.