Lawmakers Make Surprise Move to Keep The F-22 Raptor Alive

Just spotted this on Aviation week

A letter from Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, to Japan's ambassador in Washington lists an estimated average unit cost of $290 million per aircraft for a theoretical export sale of 40 F-22 Raptors. Both Inouye and Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), chairman of the House defense appropriations subcommittee, and other lawmakers in both chambers are pushing both in public and behind the scenes to allow export of the stealthy, fifth-generation fighter.

Aviation week


Would Japan really want to spend that amount on an F22 though? surely they could get something like a Typhoon that could do nearly as good a job for far less?