Sending the F-22s to Korea to do air exercises along the Demilitarized Zone and contested coastlines would send a powerful message, but the F-22 Raptor is a political albatross.

There were a number of reasons last week to look up to the sky and wonder about the future of airpower. In a world in which the United States will have smaller ground and naval forces, we will likely become more dependent on land- and sea-based airpower to deter or defeat enemies.

The raptor is the only plane that can meet the challenges of China and Russia's developing air defenses.

The 2012 Defense budget that Secretary Robert Gates unveiled last week calls for cuts of more than $178 billion--more than a quarter of today's Pentagon spending.

The F-35 stakes could hardly be higher for the United States. Despite the Pentagon’s budget woes, it cannot walk away from the Lightning.

Bob Gates is a good man who did a thankless job with grace and skill. But when our military needed a loud and firm advocate, he let Obama offer us, instead, a bleak future of shrinking American power.His successors need to correct course and take a bold stand to keep us strong as well as safe.

The proposed defense cuts pose an early test of character for the Republican House leadership.