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F-22 Raptor: The Aircraft Carrier Fighter That Never Was

F-22. Image: Creative Commons.
A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor conducts a heritage flight during the 2022 Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Air Show at MCAS Miramar, San Diego, California, Sept. 24, 2022. The F-22 Raptor is the Air Force’s fifth-generation fighter aircraft. Its combination of stealth, super-cruise, maneuverability, and integrated avionics, coupled with improved supportability, represents an exponential leap in war-fighting capabilities. The theme for the 2022 MCAS Miramar Air Show, “Marines Fight, Evolve and Win,” reflects the Marine Corps’ ongoing modernization efforts to prepare for future conflicts. (U.S. Air Force photo by Adam Bowles)

What You Need to Know: The F-22 Raptor, known for its stealth and speed, was once considered for carrier operations as the “Sea Raptor.”

-Modifying the jet for naval use would have required significant changes, including a reinforced fuselage and swept wings for carrier launches and landings.

-While the concept could have provided stealth capabilities earlier than the F-35C, challenges like reduced stealth, cost, and time constraints led to its abandonment.

-Instead, the Navy invested in the F-35C, which eventually became its first stealth carrier fighter.

-The Sea Raptor remains an intriguing “what if” in military aviation history, highlighting the challenges of innovation in defense acquisition.

Could the F-22 Have Replaced the F-35C on Aircraft Carriers?

You know it as the F-22 Raptor, which has become famous for its high stealth attributes and great speed and maneuverability. But what if I told you there was once a concept for the F-22 to be the “Sea Raptor” with the potential to take off and land from aircraft carriers? 

This capability never came to fruition, but it would have given the U.S. Navy quite an advantage and could have beaten the F-35C to the punch, giving the aircraft carrier added power and versatility.

Could the Idea Have Worked?

This idea wasn’t bad. 

The Air Force had a wealth of test and evaluation data for the F-22.

 It could have transferred this to Navy technicians to help transform the Raptor into the Sea Raptor. The Sea Raptor could have replaced the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet or the older F/A-18 Hornet and given the Navy a much-needed stealth warbird to make a great addition to carrier air wings.

In the early 1990s, the Raptor had all the potential in the world. It would be so stealthy that the Americans would not allow it to be exported. 

The F-22 was planned to be a dominant fifth-generation jet. It had just emerged as the product of tough competition and endless possibilities.

Not an Easy Conversion for F-22 Raptor Fighter 

While the carrier version of the F-22 sounded good on paper, it would pose a considerable challenge for designers and engineers. 

Technicians were worried that the F-22 did not have a strong enough fuselage to be launched and recovered by a catapult. So, that was the first thing on the to-do list: strengthening the airplane’s body.

It Would Have Been Dangerous Without the Modifications 

The F-22 would also need swept wings to make the landing, otherwise, it would come into the carrier landing too fast, making the maneuver dangerous. 

Without this modification, the F-22 could have crashed on deck or overshot the carrier altogether. The F-14 Tomcat had swept wings, but they cost substantial time and money to maintain.

These modifications to the F-22 were not insurmountable, but the U.S. military opted to go with the F-35C naval variant of the Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter program. The problem is that this airplane had significant schedule slips and cost overruns. 

Stealth F-35C. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Stealth F-35C. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

The F-35C did have the stronger fuselage needed for the catapult and folding wings for better storage on the carrier, and those were pluses. It is just that the F-35C took over 20 years to come to fruition before it was finally carrier-ready.

The F-22 Sea Raptor Could Have Been Ready Before the F-35C

Could it have been quicker to modify the F-22 into the Sea Raptor? This might have worked, but the F-35C wouldn’t have been necessary. The F-22 may have been ready before the F-35C, saving the Navy badly needed funds and time.

The F-22 Sea Raptor would have had problems, though. The changes to the fuselage and wings may have hurt its stealthiness. 

This could have also affected speed and maneuverability, even though dog fighting wasn’t necessary during the Global War on Terror. 

However, with the growth in air power exhibited by China and Russia and, to a lesser extent, North Korea and Iran, full stealthiness and excellent dog-fighting ability are necessary.

Good to Have Creative Minds in Aircraft Acquisition Circles

The F-35C, although it took longer and was extremely expensive, turned out to be the better option. However, it is interesting to speculate about the F-22 becoming the Sea Raptor. 

Sometimes, creativity can save time and money during the acquisition process. I would have liked to have seen whether the F-22 could have been modified to land and launch off carriers. This would have given the Navy stealth flight much sooner. 

A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor pilot from the 95th Fighter Squadron, Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., flies over the Baltic Sea Sept. 4, 2015. The U.S. Air Force has deployed four F-22 Raptors, one C-17 Globemaster III, approximately 60 Airmen and associated equipment to Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany. While these aircraft and Airmen are in Europe, they will conduct air training with other Europe-based aircraft. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Jason Robertson/Released)

A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor pilot from the 95th Fighter Squadron, Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., flies over the Baltic Sea Sept. 4, 2015. The U.S. Air Force has deployed four F-22 Raptors, one C-17 Globemaster III, approximately 60 Airmen and associated equipment to Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany. While these aircraft and Airmen are in Europe, they will conduct air training with other Europe-based aircraft. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Jason Robertson/Released)

The Super Hornet is a great airplane but a fourth-generation ++ jet without stealthiness. The Sea Raptor could have replaced or augmented it in the fleet and offered excellent radar-evading capability.Now the Navy finally has a stealth fighter, and the maritime branch is working on the next-generation F/A-XX that is showing early promise and has forged ahead of the U.S. Air Force’s Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter, which is on operational pause until the Trump administration does a procurement review. 

With the F-35C and the new F/A-XX, the Super Hornet can ride into the sunset. Therefore, the F-22 was not needed to be carrier-borne. The only thing the Navy lost was time. It didn’t have a stealth fighter taking off and landing from carriers for many years. 

It is important to ponder whether the F-22 could have been modified during the two decades it took to get the F-35C operational. We will never know if the F-22 could have done the job, but it was a concept worth the time and effort to pursue, at least for a while.

F-22

A 1st Fighter Wing’s F-22 Raptor from Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., pulls away and flies beside a KC-135 Stratotanker with the 756th Air Refueling Squadron, Joint Base Andrews Naval Air Facility, Md., while his wingman refuels off the east coast, July 10, 2012. The first Raptor assigned to the Wing arrived, Jan. 7, 2005. This aircraft was allocated as a trainer, and was docked in a hanger for maintenance personnel to familiarize themselves with its complex systems. The second Raptor, designated for flying operations, arrived, Jan. 18, 2005. On Dec. 15, 2005, Air Combat Command commander, along with the 1st FW commander, announced the 27th Fighter Squadron as fully operational capable to fly, fight and win with the F-22.

About the Author: Dr. Brent M. Eastwood

Brent M. Eastwood, PhD, is the author of Don’t Turn Your Back On the World: a Conservative Foreign Policy and Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare, plus two other books. Brent was the founder and CEO of a tech firm that predicted world events using artificial intelligence. He served as a legislative fellow for U.S. Senator Tim Scott and advised the senator on defense and foreign policy issues. He has taught at American University, George Washington University, and George Mason University. Brent is a former U.S. Army Infantry officer. He can be followed on X @BMEastwood.

Written By

Now serving as 1945s Defense and National Security Editor, Brent M. Eastwood, PhD, is the author of Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare. He is an Emerging Threats expert and former U.S. Army Infantry officer.

2 Comments

2 Comments

  1. Mike Mitchell

    January 7, 2025 at 4:06 pm

    Brent, the naval variant of The Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF), the competitive demonstration/validation phase the yielded the F-22 Raptor as the selected platform for full-scale development, was initially conceived for both the F-22 and the other competitor, the Northrop/McDonald Douglass F-23.
    It was an interesting time in the Program Office (I was part of the program 1987-1991). Some great stories of ATF lore came from the Navy joining us in the SPO.

  2. Mike M.

    January 7, 2025 at 9:01 pm

    Northrop/MDD started the preliminary steps on a Naval version of the YF-23; called the NATF. The proposal went nowhere and the program was scrapped. But had things gone differently, there could have been a Sea Widow to take the place of the beloved Tomcats. There’s a picture of the front end the YF-23 poking out of a hangar bearing the NATF logo.

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