The F-22 concentrates on air dominance, whereas Europe's future combat-aircraft programmes must meet a broader mix of national requirements. Britain's immediate replacement problem concerns the Eurofighter, whose mission set differs from the F-22's. The comparison separates the Franco-German programme from the Anglo-Japanese programme joined by Italy. A force able to buy several aircraft that perform several missions can have more practical value than a smaller force optimized for one task. The illustrative tradeoff is between a complete solution to one problem and an 80-percent solution to several problems that can be bought in greater numbers. Air dominance remains important, but it does not determine every design choice.
Notable Point · 4:27:39-4:30:50
Why GCAP is unlikely to copy the F-22
Eurofighter replacement and differing national mission requirements favor multirole capability and fleet numbers over copying the F-22's specialized design.