The highest-profile test of Defense Secretary Robert Gates’s plan to overhaul how the Pentagon buys weapons will be whether he succeeds in winding down production of the most advanced fighter the Air Force has ever flown. The F-22 Raptor is capable of almost hovering in place and can detect and kill an enemy more than 200 miles away. The Air Force boasts that the fighter is so far ahead of its competitors that it gives the U.S. a clear advantage in the sky. The plane’s production involves politically important states such as Georgia, where it is assembled, and Connecticut, where its engines are made. Lockheed Martin Corp., the Pentagon’s biggest contractor by sales, leads the project with Boeing Co. as its major subcontractor. But despite its political muscle and technological prowess, more F-22s don’t have a place in Mr. Gates’s vision. He wants to curtail production after 187 jets are delivered, some 60 jets short of what the Air Force has told lawmakers it wants. That could lead to thousands of job cuts. Mr. Gates sees the F-22, which costs $143 million apiece, as overkill for a military that needs to be more focused on hunting […]