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That's a gross misrepresentation of the results of the Advanced Tactical Surface Fighter project. ATSF was intended to create a next-generation TSF that would have improved anti-BETA performance as well as an additional edge against human opponents; General Ben Brugg, US Army, postulated that within decades BETA would be successfully eradicated, and after that a war over G-Elements would kick off; to maintain American superiority, the next generation TSF would need to surpass the F-15 Eagle's performance in both anti-BETA and anti-TSF combat.
Everyone keeps harping on about the F-22's stealth, and keeps forgetting that the YF-23, which was very good at combating BETA, had an identical level of stealth when compared to the YF-22. And it's even more shooty than other TSFs, being that it can deploy SIX assault rifles in Gun Sweeper configuration.
Also, it should be pointed out that practically all TSFs in the world have some input from American TSFs; a great many soviet designs, for instance, are modified or derived from US TSFs, and the Su-27 was essentially jointly designed by Sufoni and Northrock. The J-10 is derived from the F-16, and the Taiwanese F-CK-1 is a development of the F-18. Hell, even the 100% Made In Japan Type-94 Shiranui was derived from the Type-89 Kagerou/F-15J.
The F-15, F-16 and F-18 have acquitted themselves well on the battlefield. They are not regarded as useless against BETA. The F-22 exceeds the performance of the teen fighters. Do the math.
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