The legendary F-22 Raptor's enduring speed, stealth, and upgradeability ensure its dominance in air combat through the 2060s.
by Kris Osborn, Warrior
The Air Force and Pentagon have demonstrated intent to sustain and fly the F-22 well into the 2050s and 2060s, in part because it continues to be so upgradeable. Today’s F-22 is an almost entirely different aircraft from that which first took flight nearly 30 years ago, as it has received new avionics, sensing, software, coating materials, and weapons.
Its Mach 2.25 speed and superior thrust-to-weight ratio enable the aircraft to vector and maneuver in flight, which contributes to its ability to prevail in air-to-air engagements and achieve air superiority overall. Some argue the F-22 remains the most superior air dominance platform the world has ever seen, suggesting it would prevail against high-speed Russian Su-27s and Su-57s and potentially outmatch the Chinese 5th-generation J-20 Dragon.
F-22s Counter China
Aside from the pure “capability”-related reasons why the Pentagon should sustain the F-22 as long as possible, there are also clear production-related threat dynamics. It may take several years for the F-47 and F/A-XX to exist in F-35-like numbers in the hundreds of planes, yet there could easily be a shorter term need to “mass” 5th and 6th-generation airpower in the event of a great power conflict. The PLA Air Force, for instance, is already known to operate roughly 300 J-20 5th-generation stealth jets and is fast tracking the J-35 and two new mysterious 6th-generation aircraft. The PRC is well known for its civil-military fusion and ability to accelerate platform production at scale very quickly. Therefore, retiring the F-22 is not only a dangerous idea in terms of lost-capability but would also put the US Air Force at a potential 5th-gen airpower “deficit” compared to the PLA AF.
Keep Entire F-22 Fleet
These are likely just a few of the reasons why the Pentagon is hoping to fully upgrade its “entire” fleet of F-22s, including older airframes in the fleet.
With some structural maintenance and reinforcements as needed, the F-22 airframe themselves have remained viable, much like many legacy aircraft. Many of the F-22’s core attributes have withstood the test of time, as its speed, stealth, and aerial maneuverability make it hard for even advanced modern air defenses to track; the F-22’s Supercruise ability enables the aircraft to maintain mach-speeds without needing an afterburner.
F-22 Upgrades
Upgrades to the Raptor have been going on for years and arrived in successive waves. Lockheed has embarked upon several efforts in recent years to maintain, reinforce, and upgrade the aircraft’s stealth coating. Also, nearly 10 years ago, Lockheed and the Air Force implemented a massive, fleet-wide weapons-oriented software upgrade to the F-22 called 3.2b. The 3.2b software effort greatly expanded the capabilities of the F-22’s AIM-9X and AIM 120D air-to-air missiles. Range, fire control, targeting precision, and anti-jam hardening were all among the vital software upgrades that massively improved the capabilities of the Raptor’s weapons. These upgrades have now been operational across the fleet for many years.
First Shot - First Kill
The F-22 is well known for the famous phrase “first shot, first kill,” meaning its stealth and speed position it to deliver crippling, impactful first strikes as may be needed in a combat engagement.
Speed of deployment is also critical for the F-22, which is why the Air Force pioneered and maintained a “Rapid Raptor” program to ensure that the F-22 could arrive and attack any location worldwide in 24 hours. This was accomplished by ensuring that F-22s and their necessary supplies and maintainers were strategically positioned worldwide to ensure this 24-hour attack mission.
In more recent years, the F-22 Raptor has dramatically improved its ability to share data with the F-35 using two-way LINK 16 functionality. Previously, F-22-to-F-35 LINK 16 datalink connectivity was limited to one-way communication, something the Air Force has upgraded in recent years.
Furthermore, the F-22 has received a greatly enhanced AESA radar capable of tracking multiple targets and threat trajectories simultaneously.
Kris Osborn is President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University