The F-22 Raptor is America’s preeminent 5th-generation stealth air superiority fighter, yet it has met a most ironic fate. With its capabilities-predominantly unmatched maneuverability, supercruise ability, and stealth characteristics Raptor was produced in far fewer numbers than were initially planned. Just 186 jets were completed instead of the proposed 750, a figure that is very different from what was originally outlined in lofty production goals.
This limitation was in part because it came just at the time when the U.S. military was concentrating on asymmetric warfare in the Middle East, in an area in which advanced air-to-air capabilities were less important than normal. Further, stringent export limitations precluding its sale to U.S. allies ensured that advanced technology of this nature would continue to be the sole preserve of the U.S. military. The more unique feature of the F-22 is its combat capabilities, far overreaching its strategic and budget constraints, which restrict the role of the aircraft in U.S. air power and also led to its early halt in production in 2011.
Entering service in 2005, the F-22 Raptor was meant to replace the long-serving F-15 Eagle as America’s next air superiority fighter jet, serving into at least the 2040s. The first 5th-generation stealth fighter jet, the F-22, combined modern technologies such as stealth and sensor fusion into a single aircraft, creating excellent situational awareness and survivability. Its highly maneuverable airframe is capable of supercruise—that is, of flying at supersonic speeds sans afterburners.
Thrust vectoring is what puts the F-22 at the top of the class in an exotic dogfight. With two engines, each coupled to uniquely designed nozzles allowing for swiveling in the vertical plane, this aircraft can execute hair-raising aerobatics and an extremely high angle of attack to the pilot’s advantage in within-visual-range engagements.
The F-22 is armed with the most versatile weapons. In a combat air patrol, it can carry two AIM-9 Sidewinder heat-seeking air-to-air missiles and six AIM-120 AMRAAM radar-guided missiles. For more close air support or precision strike missions, it can carry two 1,000-pound GBU-32 JDAMs or eight 250-pound Small Diameter Bombs with a pair each of both AIM-9s and AIM-120s. The M61A2 20-millimeter cannon with 480 rounds makes sure it remains the schoolyard bully of dogfights. Importantly, all these different munitions could be carried within its three internal weapons bays, maintaining its stealth capabilities.
With an operational ceiling of 50,000 feet and a range of nearly 1,900 miles with two external fuel tanks that would limit its stealth capabilities F-22 was capable of speeds above Mach 2. Despite these impressive characteristics, the F-22 program was short-lived, in large part due to its unfortunate timing.
The F-22 officially went into service at a time when the U.S. military was fighting on two fronts against irregular enemies in Afghanistan and Iraq. At this time, the Pentagon was funneling trillions of dollars into the Global War on Terror, but the F-22’s air superiority characteristics and stealth attributes were not being used to their full potential against an enemy that was devoid of advanced surface-to-air missile systems and fighter aircraft. And in this way, the F-22 Raptor can be listed among the “most unlucky” planes ever designed, since its sensational features found no match in the threats.
Of the 186 F-22 Raptors that were delivered to the Air Force, only about 130 were ever operational. Today, the Raptor faces extinction, with less than 100 combat-ready at any time because of spare parts. In 2011, the last Raptor rolled off the production line and Lockheed Martin cannibalized its production line in support of the F-35.
Over the years, various countries like Israel, Japan, and Australia have shown interest in the purchase of the F-22 Raptor but were repeatedly rebuffed. Even Congress went so far as to pass an amendment in 1998 banning F-22 Raptor sales to foreign nations. Unlike most U.S. military aircraft, the F-22 was never designed for export, chock full of secret technology that the United States preferred to keep close to its chest.
All was not gloom and doom for exporters, though, as the Department of Defense did at least entertain the possibility of being able to sell the F-22 abroad. A few Air Force offices conducted studies indirectly aimed at indicating what an F-22 export-approval program would look like. What Congress never did, though, was authorize funding for an export version so, ever the pragmatists, foreign suitors have begun to turn their attentions to the F-35.
The F-22 Raptor continues to be an example of advanced military technology, though its legacy is tainted by strategic and budgetary barriers that have prevented its potential from being fully realized in helping shape U.S. air power.