m0wfo, it looks like you're shadowbanned. I'm not sure why looking at your post history. They said:
> I admit- I got immediately distracted by a sub-link about the overall adjusted cost of the project, where the claimed figure in today's money was $30B. Out of curiosity, I looked up the total cost to date of the F-22 program (which has taken a hell of a lot longer to ship) and the gospel according to Wikipedia claims it's $66.7B. Is there something to be said for shipping under pressure? ;)
He was shadowbanned for good cause a very long time ago.
In partial answer to his question, the Manhattan Project wasn't trying to create a polished weapon, and the weapons it created were very crude and not very many steps from the lab bench. The F-22 also had a goal of totally outclassing the previous generation of air superiority fighters, which it handily does; compare to our first operation jet fighter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_P-80_Shooting_Star
ADDED: From the Wikipedia article; we aren't comparing the same thing at all:
It was estimated by the end of production, $34 billion will have been spent on procurement, resulting in a total program cost of $62 billion....
So more like $34 billion for R&D and all the units manufactured. I think total program cost is what it'll take to keep the fleet flying until they're retired, e.g. engine repair and replacement, maybe even an avionics mid-life kicker.
> I admit- I got immediately distracted by a sub-link about the overall adjusted cost of the project, where the claimed figure in today's money was $30B. Out of curiosity, I looked up the total cost to date of the F-22 program (which has taken a hell of a lot longer to ship) and the gospel according to Wikipedia claims it's $66.7B. Is there something to be said for shipping under pressure? ;)
Maybe contact a mod to find out why.