Final F-22 rolls off Lockheed Martin assembly line in Marietta on December 13, 2011.
Lockheed workers cheer winning F-22 contract in April of 1991.
A Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor jet flies during an air display at the Farnborough International Airshow in Hampshire on July 20, 2010. (BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images)
F-22 assembly line at Lockheed Martin plant in Marietta.
MARIETTA, Ga. - The final F-22 Raptor rolled off the assembly line at a Lockheed Martin Corp. plant in Marietta on Tuesday.
PHOTOS | F-22 Raptor in action
The stealth fighter will be the last of 187 F-22's produced for the U.S. Air Force, completing its operational fleet.
The F-22 Raptor is designed to carry a variety of weapons, including smart bombs and air-to-air missiles.
When first approved in April of 1991, the potential order was for as many as 1,400 aircraft.
But as the plane's cost soared to $150-million each and its role in the current war on terror wasn't clear, Congress gradually whittled orders to less than 200.
Some question abandoning construction; however, since Russia and China are just now testing their own versions of stealth fighters.
The final Raptor will be delivered to the U.S. Air Force next year.
About 2,000 workers have assembled the jets at the Marietta plant.
The union representing those workers told 11 Alive News they believe more than 230 of those jobs will be lost in January.
But Lockheed Martin continues to deliver orders for its bread-and-butter product, the C-130 cargo plane, which unlike the F-22, can be sold to other countries.
The C-130 Hercules first rolled off Lockheed's assembly line more than 50 years ago.
The company is also gearing up for production of the next generation stealth fighter, the F-35 Lightening II, Joint Strike Aircraft.
The F-22's are now based at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, Elmendorf AFB in Alaska, Holloman AFB in New Mexico, and Hickam AFB in Hawaii.
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