Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall revealed that the service’s bid to retire older F-22 Raptor airframes may actually come to fruition amidst the looming round of budget negotiations. According to Breaking Defense, lawmakers may be more willing to accept the service’s retirement recommendations for the stealthy fifth-generation fighter platform. Last year, the U.S. House and Senate Armed Services committee requested that the Air Force upgrade its aging Raptor fleet instead of nixing them due to high maintenance costs.
However, the Air Force has argued that the $500 million needed to properly maintain the 32 remaining Block 20 Raptors would be better spent on the service’s Next Generation Air Dominance program (NGAD). Although the Air Force is confident that lawmakers could be more receptive to their retirement push, the Raptor to this day maintains capabilities that even the latest F-35 Joint Strike Fighter does not possess.
Preserving America’s remaining F-22 fleet appeared to be the bipartisan view of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC). The HASC provides legislative oversight for the military and has insisted that the agenda to save the Raptors is based on “risk mitigation,” according to a staffer. As tensions continue to ramp up between Washington and Beijing over Taipei, defense officials should worry about retiring the Raptors too soon.
The Air Force has revealed that it plans to introduce its NGAD sixth-generation fighter by 2030, however, kinetic warfare could erupt before this time period. As keenly noted by former Air Force pilot John Venable, “Neither the Chinese nor the Russians will be deterred by a brochure about the Air Force’s next fighter.”
A brief history of the Raptor
As the world’s first operational fighter to combine stealth, supermaneuverability, super cruise and sensor fusion in a singular platform, the F-22 has an impressive and well-deserved reputation.
The fighter was conceptualized in the early 1980’s to replace the aging F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon fourth-generation jets.
Many experts consider the F-22 Raptor the best stealth fighter on Earth and, in fact, the best fighter jet ever built.
The former Soviet Union was ramping up its own efforts to develop a near-peer fighter to America’s leading jets, perhaps putting America’s aerial capabilities at a “mission deficiency.” Therefore, in order to maintain the country’s edge over the USSR and other adversaries, American engineers got to work. By the early 1990’s, the YF-22 prototype took to the skies and ultimately was selected by the Air Force as its preferred new fighter.
By the late 1990’s, the first production F-22 took its maiden flight and the platform entered service in the early 2000’s. Once the Cold War dissipated, the desire to produce as many Raptors as initially intended dwindled. Instead, U.S. engineers shifted focus to develop a newer platform amidst the emerging War on Terror. The F-35’s production costs were much lower than its predecessor, making the Joint Strike Fighter the preferred mass-production jet.
Specs and capabilities
Perhaps the Raptor’s greatest attribute is its small radar cross-section and twin thrust-vectoring F119 turbofan engines. These components allow the airframe to outperform any other existing fifth-generation platforms in the skies. In addition to its stealth, high degree of sensor fusion and situational awareness, the F-22is also a solid dogfighter. Equipped with an M61A2 20mm Gatling gun, the Raptor is a force to be reckoned with.
The fighter can also carry and fire air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons including precision-guided ground bombs like the Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM). Additionally, the Raptor can carry six AIM-120 AMRAAMS and two AIM-9 Sidewinders when in the air-to-air configuration.
The Raptor vs. the Joint Strike Fighter
Although the F-35 is often touted as America’s premiere fighter jet, the Raptor hosts some capabilities that its successor lacks.
The F-22 has a superior thrust-to weight ratio, greater firepower, and increased maneuverability than the Joint Strike Fighter.
However, the F-35 has the Raptor beat in advanced electronics. While some F-22s have been upgraded over the years, the avionics suite of the F-22 remains second tier to the F-35. As detailed by Sandboxx News, “The Raptor, like many fighters before it, wasn’t developed with modularity in mind, meaning its dated hardware and software are — to a larger extent than newer fighters — married. To make matters worse, these systems were designed at a time when the Air Force anticipated a large Raptor fleet focused on communicating among itself, not with other jets.”
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Maya Carlin, a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has by-lines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin.
