Have you ever heard of the F-22 “Super” or what could be called the “Super Raptor?”
Well, we haven’t either.
This is an upgraded airplane that President Donald Trump just touted to reporters in Doha, Qatar on May 15. The confusion is palpable here because the F-22 Raptor is retiring and will be replaced by the F-47 NGAD sixth-generation fighter that Trump already announced to much fanfare at the Oval Office earlier this year.
Shown is a graphical artist rendering of the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) Platform. The rendering highlights the Air Force’s sixth generation fighter, the F-47. The NGAD Platform will bring lethal, next-generation technologies to ensure air superiority for the Joint Force in any conflict. (U.S. Air Force graphic)
F-22 Super – This is Surprising News to Trump’s National Security Team
So does that mean the F-22 will fight on as the “Super?” It is not completely clear from the president’s statement. He might have been speaking off the cuff without input from the Secretary of Defense or the new Secretary of the Air Force who just got sworn in. Troy Meink is now the civilian head of the Air Force and he took the reins on May 13. Meink is probably wondering what the F-22 Super is too. SECDEF Pete Hegseth usually doesn’t speak specifically about weapons systems so he could be in the dark about Trump’s plans to soup up the F-22.
Defense Contractors Were In Earshot
Trump was speaking to a group that included the leaders of Boeing and GE Aerospace in Qatar.
He is always looking to boost U.S. manufacturing and economic development from defense contractors, so the F-22 Super plans probably pleased the CEOs.
Boeing has a hot hand. The venerable aviation corporation is the prime contractor for the F-47. On the civilian side, it just won a huge contract from Qatar to produce up to 210 commercial airliners.
Remember the Non-existent F-52?
Trump said to the gaggle that “we’re going to do the F-22.” He could be mis-speaking and is confused about the American fighter fleet.
Trump has made mistakes before. In 2018, the president told the Norwegian prime minister that the United States was going to deliver the first “F-52s” to Norway. Not only was there no airplane deal in the works for the Nordic country, but the F-52 does not exist.
The only F-52 around is in a video game called “Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.”
But Trump seems sure the F-22 will see some form of upgrade. “I think the most beautiful fighter jet in the world is the F-22 but we’re going to do an F-22 Super and it’ll be a very modern version of the F-22 fighter jet,” he said.
Does that mean the Air Force is going to develop the F-47 and upgrade the F-22 at the same time? That seems to be the message that Trump is sending, which will be news for the Pentagon. Where the money is going to come from, no-one knows. And is a Super F-22 going to replace older F-22s? That’s not clear either.
Maybe, in the end, Trump just made a mistake that his press folks will get around to clearing up?
The F-22 Super Will Be a Fast Project, Trump Says
Trump continued with his enthusiasm for the F-22 Super. “We’re going to be going with it pretty quickly,” he said.
Upgrades to existing airplane are not cheap or quick. For example, the slow-moving B-52 modernization program for new radars has been over-budget so badly that it incurred a Nunn-McCurdy Act breach. This is a legal requirement for defense acquisition leadership to alert Congress about dangerous cost increases that could end up in the cancellation of the program.
Congress Is in the Dark Too
This F-22 Super is assuredly confusing to lawmakers, too.
For years, Members of Congress have been looking at ways to retire the stealth Raptor to have more money for the F-47 – then called the Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter. Early estimates pegged the price for the NGAD as $300 million per unit.
Boeing is sure to bring those costs down, but that is still going to set the Air Force back substantially since it wants more than 185 F-47s by the end of the decade. The F-47 is supposed to make its maiden flight while Trump is still in office.
F-22 Super In The Dark
How does that leave the F-22 Super?
This modernization effort would require significant amounts of time, money, and resources too.
Of course this depends on just how super the Raptor could be. Perhaps Trump and his national security team want a fighter with lasers that could take out satellites. This would mean the F-22 Super could work with the new Golden Dome missile defense shield which is also Trump’s baby. The F-22 Super could also be a drone quarterback to operate the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) uncrewed reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and targeting platform.
Maybe the Super F-22 Is Just the F-47?
This is why Trump is probably confusing the F-47 with the F-22. The Super would have some of the same new features as the F-47, so why does the Air Force also need an upgraded F-22 in the first place?
I do admire Trump’s passion. The Commander-in-Chief should be creative and excited about new defense capabilities. His predecessor Joe Biden hardly ever talked about specific weapons systems leaving the loquacious former Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall to give the media many details about new airplanes.
FB-22 Stealth Bomber? Image is of an F-22 Raptor. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
F-22 Raptor. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
F-22 Raptor. Image Credit: Lockheed Martin.
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.
However, the president needs to get his facts straight because it confuses the Pentagon, procurement officials, and Congress. Trump is not one to usually correct or apologize for past miscues and he may just forget about the F-22 Super after his national security team tells him the difficulty of modernizing the Raptor. Let’s hope he just wants the F-47 so the Air Force and Congress can marshal all the resources needed to make that airplane a reality.
Or, in the end, maybe the Super F-22 is just the F-47, and Trump gave the F-47 his Trump-styled nickname. At least it’s better than Little Marco, right?
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.
