Exclusive to the United States Air Force, the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor is a cutting-edge stealth tactical fighter jet. The F-22 Raptor has demonstrated its ability to engage an enemy, but its speed also works in its favor. The Raptor can cruise at supersonic airspeeds greater than Mach 1.5 without using its afterburner thanks to its aerodynamic airframe and engines, which can provide more thrust than any other fighter currently in use. This ability is known as supercruise.
The F-22 Raptor is a fighter jet that can quickly and covertly assault opposing defenses, making it a widely feared combat weapon. The ability to avoid detection, whether by optical, acoustic, or radar waves, is a trait of stealth aircraft. In addition to being called stealth, this aircraft also received the nickname Silent aircraft. Its presence has the power to turn into a fortress and render the opposition helpless from the air.
More than 15 years after its debut, the F-22 Raptor still rules the skies, despite the fact that it is not impervious to attack. Contrary to the F-35, which was deliberately designed to be a versatile platform to fulfill numerous missions, the F-22 Raptor is largely recognized as the best air-to-air fighter jet in the world. According to all accounts, the F-22 Raptor was only intended to be an air superiority fighter, and by all accounts, it has excelled in this capacity but it is also equipped to carry out ground attacks, electronic warfare, and signals intelligence missions.
When defense secretary Robert Gates announced that the pentagon would end the Lockheed-run F-22 Raptor program and increase production of the F-35 joint strike fighters in April 2009, the aircraft was slated to replace the air force’s F-15 fighter jets with a greater emphasis on stealth agility and range.
The last F-22 was delivered to the US Air Force in 2012. The service currently has 183 F-22 Raptors available. Despite the plane’s notoriety, less than 200 of them were actually produced; in contrast, more than 700 F-35s have already been produced, despite the fact that it was introduced ten years after the F-22 after numerous delays. Over the next few decades, more than 2000 F-35s will be built.
Cost is the main factor for having so few F-22 Raptors. Even by the standards of the Air Force, the cost of the F-22 Raptor is astounding. In a 2017 report to congress, the U.S. Air Force—which was against resuming the F-22 production line—listed these costs. According to the research, buying 194 F-22s, or approximately doubling the size of the present F-22 fleet, would cost between $40 billion and $42 billion. The cost of each aircraft would be about $200 million, which is much higher than an F-35A.
The U.S. Air Force suggested that other initiatives would be more valuable to fund than the purchase of additional F-22 Raptors. Additionally, it noted that even if cost were not a deciding issue, the turnaround time needed to restart the F-22 production line would delay the release of the first aircraft until the mid to late 2020s. The date of roughly 2030 looks more accurate. The F-22 and F-35’s future efficacy would be constrained by the sixth-generation fighter development that would be well underway in the United States, Russia, and China.
As we get closer to 2030, the research stated that it is crucial to understand how quickly threat capabilities have evolved and will continue to do so, producing conditions that are fiercely disputed. Analysis of what capability and capacity are required to establish air superiority in upcoming highly contested scenarios should be part of any discussion about restarting the F-22 production line. By November 2021, Lockheed Martin Corporation had been awarded a contract by the US Air Force for the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jet upgrade, which was expected to cost more than $10.8 billion.
The contract would include services like upgrades, additions, and corrections for the Raptor, the defense department announced. Along with procurement of the modernisation hardware kit, Lockheed will offer logistical support. The Pentagon anticipates that the 10.9 billion USD deal will be completed by October 31, 2031. Texas’s Fort Worth will be the site of the contract’s work. The F-22 Raptor was made by Lockheed Martin, who received the contract as a sole source award.
The F-22 may have reached the end of its useful life by the time modernization under advanced raptor upgrade and sustainment is completed. The F-22 raptor will eventually be retired, according to U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff General Charles Q. Brown, as part of an effort to reduce its fighter inventory.
The U.S. Air Force intends to reduce the number of fighter aircraft it now uses from seven to just four. The F-22 Raptor will be retired very early as part of the effort, but the good news is that it will be replaced by the air force’s top-secret new fighter jets. The F-22 Raptor, F-15C and D Eagle, F-15E Strike Eagle, F-15EX Super Eagle, F-35 Joint Strike Aircraft, F-16 Fighting Falcon, and A-10 Thunderbolt are the seven fighter types that make up the modern Air Force. It’s a wide collection of aircraft, some of which serve many purposes, ranging from advanced air superiority fighters to close air support aircraft. The F-15C and D, F-15E, A-10, and F-22 would make one-way flights to the scrapyard under the plan.
The Next Generation Air Dominance fighter, the NGAD, would join the F-15EX, F-35, and F-16 in continued service. When the air force suddenly revealed that NGAD, the F-22 Raptor replacement, designed, built, and flew a prototype in just one year, the news caused a stir in 2020. The types of aircraft in the piloted aircraft fleet will be consolidated into a stable of just four fighters, but Brown made no mention of flying fewer aircraft, despite the fact that the air force has intimated that the F-15EX may replace not just the F-15C and D but also the F-15E.
Going from seven fighters to four fighters is not a step back, but it could help open the door for the air force to do something new. It is important to keep in mind that the four fighters will almost certainly be supplemented by numerous cheaper drones that could address some crucial but extremely dangerous roles like close air support.