Air Force Raptor to 2060? The F-22 Likely Destroyed Chinese Spy Balloon with “Upgraded” AIM-9X Missile

​By Kris Osborn – President, Center for Military Modernization

(Washington D.C.)   The Pentagon says the intruding Chinese spy balloon was successfully destroyed by an F-22-fired AIM-9X Sidewider missile, a development which raises interesting questions about the long-term functionality, operational success and expected service life of the F-22 Raptor. 

F-22

While the emergence of the Pentagon’s now already airborne Next Generation Air Dominance 6th-generation stealth fighter jet is already airborne is often thought of as a next-generation F-22 …. the F-22 itself and its upgraded air-to-air weapons are not likely to go anywhere anytime soon.  

The continued operational use of the F-22, which has included attacks on ISIS over Iraq in 2014, seems to have been measurably improved by a long-standing series of ongoing technology upgrades. These upgrades cover a wide range of technological areas to include stealth coating preservation and maintenance, sensors and weapons guidance, software upgrades, radar-driven threat detection, communications technology and high-speed computing. For many years now, the Air Force has been vigorously pursuing new avionics, radar, targeting sensors, weapons, glass cockpit displays and Artificial Intelligence for its F-22 stealth fighter to try to sustain air supremacy amid Russian and Chinese 5th-generation stealth fighter technical modernization.

These upgrades were designed to enable the F-22 to ID targets at longer ranges, respond more efficiently to sensor input, sustain an air-to-air combat superiority over near-peer rivals and lay down a technical foundation such that the aircraft can quickly embrace new weapons, technologies, sensors and software as they emerge. 

Video Above: Air War in 2050 – Air Force Research Lab Command

These upgrades have included specific weapons improvements for the F-22s to massively expand its target envelope, air-to-air attack range and lock-on-launch precision. The upgraded F-22s are now able to track and destroy enemy targets flying behind them, hit air targets with much greater force, precision and destructive power and include new GPS jam-resistant technologies.