- The U.S. Air Force plans to spend nearly $8 billion on fleet upgrades for the F-22 Raptor.
- The cash—spent over five years—will give the Raptor capabilities it has at all times lacked, including infrared search and track (IRST) and stealthy fuel tanks.
- The service had planned to start retiring the F-22 in 2030 as its substitute, Next Generation Air Dominance, neared completion.
The Air Force appears to have modified its mind about retiring the F-22 Raptor fighter. The service had originally planned to start removing older jets from service in 2030, in preparation for the fielding of the jet’s substitute. But now, the plan appears to be to spend billions of dollars adding latest capabilities to the world’s first fifth generation fighter.
Retirement Deferred
The Air Force, in accordance with Air & Space Forces Magazine, plans to spend $7.8 billion on the F-22 between 2024 and 2029. The cash goes towards research and development, testing, and upgrades. The fighter—although considered the most effective air superiority fighter on the earth—lacks some capabilities of jets built after it, including the F-35 and F-15EX.
For the last forty years, the Air Force has made a degree of maintaining a force of world-class fighter aircraft to make sure air superiority in any future conflict—first with the F-15 Eagle, after which the F-22 Raptor. The service believes it’s time for a brand new plane, a choice likely spurred by the event of the Russian Su-57 “Felon” and Chinese J-20 “Mighty Dragon” fifth generation fighters. The brand new sixth generation jet, tentatively often known as Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD), is projected to enter service within the early 2030s.
The F-22 entered service in 2005, meaning a planned retirement for the yr 2030 would mean it had among the many shortest runs of any modern U.S. military aircraft. It’s normal for the services to retire older aircraft as their replacements come on-line, so the push to retire older F-22s was not surprising. Plowing latest upgrades into the F-22 signals that the Air Force wants to maintain them around, likely for an additional decade.
One reason could possibly be that the service thinks NGAD shall be barely delayed, or that they need each the F-22 and NGAD to operate at the identical time for so long as possible. Regardless of the case, $7.8 billion continues to be lots of money—even for the U.S. Air Force. It’s enough to purchase 100 latest F-35A Lightning II strike fighters, so this was not a choice that was taken flippantly.
Latest Capabilities
The F-22 was developed during a time when certain capabilities—akin to long range, secure digital communications and infrared detection—either weren’t a priority, or encountered technical issues that were never fully resolved. The brand new investments within the Raptor fleet will address lots of these shortcomings.
One example is stealthy fuel tanks. The service never designed fuel tanks that hung off the plane’s wings, giving it greater range without breaking its stealthy profile. As a substitute, the jet carries strange fuel tanks that give it longer “legs,” but that are impractical for the F-22’s “assassin” sort of air to air combat. This was not a difficulty for years, but as Russia and China put money into air power—and the world is increasingly defined as Eurasia and the Pacific Ocean—the necessity for stealthy fuel tanks has turn into clear. In response to Air & Space Forces Magazine, the brand new tanks passed a critical design review in 2023, and are on their solution to being fielded across the Raptor force.
One other issue is Link 16 communications. Most ships and planes fielded by america, NATO, Japan, and other major allies can share data digitally using the Link 16 standard. This permits greater cooperation and data sharing on the battlefield, even amongst units from different countries. The F-22 was designed to receive Link 16 data, but the power to send data—which might involve emitting radio signals that could possibly be detected—was never developed. The brand new upgrades will allow F-22 pilots to each send and receive data via Link 16.
The upgrades may even include infrared search and track (IRST). IRST involves placing a front-facing infrared camera sensor on a fighter aircraft, which allows a fighter pilot to detect enemy aircraft and missiles via their infrared signature. This “passive” sensor doesn’t broadcast energy that may tip off the enemy to an aircraft’s presence. IRST was never built into the Raptor, but latest infrared pods that hang off the wings are actually on the way in which, with an expected fielding date of 2029.
It’s not clear what the Air Force’s ultimate F-22 plans are. China is constructing 40-50 J-20 fighters a yr, and the service plans to purchase only 250-300 NGAD fighters in total. The service may determine to maintain the F-22 around longer than planned, bolstering the variety of stealth fighters available. Regardless of the case, it looks like America’s Raptors have earned a reprise.