Product Review

In dwindling numbers, with aging equipment, America's airmen may no longer be able to win a near-peer war with a hostile nation-state like North Korea. The shrinking of U.S. air power is nothing new but the Air Force hoped to compensate with advanced technology. With the F-22 Raptor superfighter as its flagship, the Air Force was going to enter a new era when sensors, digital technology and connectivity would make up for declining numbers. In this new world with its new way of waging war, the F-22 would be out in front.

That was the plan before Robert Gates became Secretary of Defense in 2006.

In this close-up look at how Gates killed the F-22, author Robert F. Dorr argues that the Pentagon chief, who served under presidents of both parties, harmed the nation when he fired the Air Force's top leaders and terminated the F-22.

Why did Gates really sack Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne and chief of staff General T. Michael "Buzz" Moseley? Why did Gates cancel the world's most capable warplane? Are we defenseless today because the Defense Secretary wanted to prepare for the wrong war at the wrong time?

The answers will surprise you.