Summary and Key Points: The F-22 Raptor, the world’s first stealth fighter, is set to extend its service life into the 2030s despite its aging design, thanks to significant multi-billion-dollar upgrades.
-These enhancements include advanced sensors, infrared search and track systems, helmet-cued targeting, and stealth fuel tanks, all aimed at maintaining air superiority.
-However, with the U.S. halting Raptor production and the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program delayed, questions arise about whether the small fleet of upgraded F-22s can handle increasing threats from China’s growing 5th-generation fighter fleet.
-The F-22 will likely be accompanied by AI drones and upgraded F-35s to ensure air superiority.
With the future of America’s next air superiority fighter now in question, America’s king of the skies, the F-22 Raptor, is set to extend its reign well into the 2030s, thanks to a slew of multi-billion dollar upgrades already underway – and the list keeps getting longer.
Just last week, the Air Force awarded another billion-dollar contract to RTX (formerly Raytheon) for a slew of new sensor upgrades meant to help ensure the world’s first-ever stealth fighter remains the best-ever at its air combat role.
But with America’s F-22 fleet already eclipsed in numbers by China’s 5th generation J-20s, China’s carrier-capable J-31 stealth fighter making its way toward service, and a half dozen other stealth fighter programs rapidly maturing, the question American planners have to be asking themselves right now is… Just how good can America make a stealth fighter that was largely designed in the 1980s, started flying in the 1990s, and in terms of airframe hours, is rapidly approaching middle age?
The answer, mounting evidence suggests, is scary good… But with such a small fleet of combat-ready Raptors, the next question that has to be asked is: Is scary enough?
The F-22 Raptor’s sleek and stealthy design, incredible aerobatic performance, and unparalleled reputation gained through years of dominating air combat exercises the world over is often more than enough to make you forget that this aircraft, in its general production state, has been flying since before the founders of Google even registered that domain; when buying gas in Los Angeles cost $1.36 a gallon, and when the........