From what I've read, there was a huge amount of politics involved in the F-22. Plus, we're not in WWII, so there's less demand on pumping out high volumes of good-enough planes and more focus on building something that really pushes the limits of technology, which the F-22 does.

Yeah. I remember reading that the F-22 or the JSF has contracts in 48 states. They really spread around the contracts to ensure smooth sailing in Congress. Everyone got a piece of the action (jobs to bring home) so to speak.

The problem is, it's also insanely easy to disrupt manufacturing that distributed. If it ever came to a war where bombs/rockets/cruise missiles were hitting our soil, it would be nearly impossible to ramp up production of this jet, much less protect the facilities involved in designing/making it.

If it came to war then speed of production of fighter aircraft would have a pretty minimal impact on the US ability to achieve air superiority. The days when Britain survived WWII by manufacturing >14000 Hurricanes are long gone

You're right, but it depends on the length of the conflict. Each Apache Helicopter is built by hand. They have individual names. We only produce 60 of them a year.

I don't know the loss rate we've encountered in Iraq and Afganistan (I know its much lower than the Blackhawks) but even if you're losing 61/year for a long enough timeline....

Check out the Eurofighter Typhoon. By most accounts, while it's no F22, it's not a bad plane (if you need air superiority over central Europe against a numerically superior enemy... Not much use as a bomber).

But the goal of the project was propping up the European aerospace industry...

As far as I can see the goals of most large military procurement projects, at least in the UK, are primarily political and then as status symbols for the relevant branch of the military.

What the people we put in harms way actually need to get their jobs done seems to be of relatively little importance.

The RAF has always been very clear about who its real enemies are... The Army and the Navy. I think this is true in most countries...