If you don’t want a nuclear war, then keep prepared for a conventional war.
The US is planning to avoid a Ukraine situation by maintaining air superiority. The best way to do that is for your enemy to lose his air forces before the morning of the second day. This plane is part of that solution. It’s not a last war strategy.
I know asymmetric warfare has seemed to suck, but it’s still better than being in a grinder with a near peer.