The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and the Northrop B-2 Spirit are widely considered the world's most advanced air dominance fighters and strategic bombers, respectively. They are leagues ahead of their 4th-generation fighter and early Cold War bomber counterparts. And yet, these high-end aircraft are set to become obsolete first. This may seem counterintuitive at first, but it makes sense. It's not only combat jets, but another example can be seen in how the ancient Lockheed U-2 spy plane outlived the SR-71 Blackbird, even though the latter was an unparalleled marvel of engineering. Here is why older, simpler, and cheaper equipment...