Give me a Su-29 and I can shoot down the Craptor :P A friend of mine was an F-15C pilot and is transitioning to the F-22. He flew his first flight the other day with the 22 and said it was a dream. "Miles" ahead of the F-15C in some respects and he seems to be crazy about it. If you look at it's history and frankly the F-16, F-18 and Su-27 they have all had rough starts. Cancellations,ect.
The Raptor is going through the same thing and it's been played around with since God knows when. But you have to remember do the F-22's, 35's, 27's, 37's, PAK-FA's have the record of the Eagle? Or the proven operational ability of the F-16 / 18? To me it seems that were hitting the proverbial wall. While we do need to upgrade and find the next gen aircraft at the same time its going to take a long time to get everything set. It won't be easy considering the forebearers (Eagles,ect).
But from what I have seen and heard the F-22 will be a dominate force. It can out-fly most if not everything out there today beyond UFO's. But it costs a hefty load especially in our financial crisis. What about the JSF? The Navy / Moorines will need (especially the latter) new toys.