Explained: The Strengths & Weaknesses Of The F-22 Raptor Fighter Jet

Explained: The Strengths & Weaknesses Of The F-22 Raptor Fighter Jet

In a 2019 interview on the Fighter Pilot Podcast, retired US Air Force Colonel Terry “Stretch” Scott revealed his favorite aspect of Lockheed Martin’s F22 Raptor fighter aircraft:

“You can do anything you want with the flight controls… the original flight control input in the -1 [manual] was ‘You may fly this airplane with reckless abandon’.”

Indeed, the Raptor’s incredible maneuverability and sleek design have dominated the skies since the program’s inception in the 1980s, first flight in 2005, and fielding around the world. However, the Air Force produced fewer than 200 of the fighters and plans to slowly divest them over the next few decades. The story of the Raptor’s dominance, and its death by a thousand cuts, lies in its incredible strengths and vital weaknesses.

F-22 Characteristics

Crew

1

Length

62 ft 1 in (18.92 m)

Wingspan

44 ft 6 in (13.56 m)

Maximum speed

Mach 2.25, 1,500 mph (2,414 km/h) at high altitude / Mach 1.21, 800 knots (921 mph; 1,482 km/h) at sea level

Range

1,600 NM (1,800 mi, 3,000 km) or more with 2 external fuel tanks

Invisible swords: The power and stealth of the F22

The first and most obvious advantage of the F22 Raptor, touted in airshows and sizzle reels all over the world, is its supermaneuverability. Its two Pratt & Whitney turbofan engines can vector thrust up to 20 degrees, providing the Raptor a supreme degree of control at slow airspeeds and high angles of attack. Combined with its intelligent flight control system, which can automatically adjust control surfaces based on the flight profile, the F22 is a phenomenally capable close-in dogfighting aircraft.

However, the Raptor was never designed to be that close to an enemy aircraft. Its stealth capability is arguably its most valuable asset. According to Airman magazine, it has the radar cross-section of a bumblebee, making it nearly undetectable to the high-frequency radar systems carried by enemy fighter aircraft.

Its radar-absorbent materials and careful geometry allow it to obtain the first shot in any air-to-air fight from well beyond visual range. Its weapons — six AIM-120 AMRAAMs and two AIM-9 Sidewinders, to be precise — are carried within sealed weapons bays, eliminating their radar cross-sections outside the aircraft. Once the target is confirmed, the bays pop open just long enough to release a missile and preserve the stealth envelope around the Raptor itself.

The Raptor’s stealth is complemented by its speed. Supercruise — the ability to cruise supersonically without afterburners — allows the F22 to close massive distances at its leisure, leaving an opponent unsure of when to attack or defend. Moving at Mach 1.6 and nearly invisible, the Raptor can create multiple firing solutions and coordinate them long before an opponent knows it exists.

F-22 Armament

Guns

1× 20 mm M61A2 Vulcan rotary cannon, 480 rounds

Internal weapons bays

Air-to-air loadout: 6× AIM-120C/D AMRAAM or 4× AIM-120A/B AMRAAM plus 2× AIM-9M/X Sidewinder. Air-to-ground loadout: 2× 1,000 lb (450 kg) JDAM or 8× 250 lb (110 kg) GBU-39 SDB and 2× AIM-120 AMRAAM and 2× AIM-9 Sidewinder

External hardpoint

4× under-wing pylon stations can be fitted to carry weapons, each with a capacity of 5,000 lb (2,270 kg) or 600 US gallon (2,270 L) drop tanks plus 4x AIM-120 AMRAAM (external)

Self-fulfilling prophecies: The decline of the F22 program

So, with all of that power, speed, stealth, and technology, why is the US military divesting the F22 program? It is a matter of unfortunate timing. When the Advanced Tactical Fighter program was in its infancy towards the end of the Cold War, the US Air Force needed a peer-to-peer aircraft for a conventional fight over Eastern Europe. The F22’s specifications reflected that need, and the initial order for 750 fighters reflected the geopolitical situation it faced.

However, the Global War on Terror redirected the DoD’s energy for the next fifteen years. America’s enemies in the 2000s did not confront it with 5th-generation fighter aircraft (or any fighter aircraft at all, for that matter). In 2006, the Government Accountability Office found it hard to justify the additional $4.4 billion needed to build out the program and recommended delaying it until a more responsible solution could be found. The initial order of 750 was cut in half to 381, and then to 195. Currently, 183 F22s are active in the US military.

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These cuts, and the long-standing ban on exporting advanced F22 technology to any nation, explain the F22’s most significant weakness: its astronomical cost. There is no economy of scale to the aircraft. Production lines that shut down in the 2000s cannot be reinstated without massive investment and spare parts cannot be sourced outside of those lines.

Currently, the Air Force marks an F22’s cost as $143 million, as opposed to $78 million (according to Forbes) for the much more common F35A, the Raptor’s younger brother by way of Lockheed Martin. The costs to maintain the F22 fleet will only continue to rise, said Lieutenant General Richard Moore in 2023. The 32 older F22s, with their Block 20 software, could cost a total of $7 billion to maintain and upgrade by the end of the decade. That time and money would be much better directed to the F35 or the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program.

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Aging technologies and emerging threats

The aging F22 fleet holds another weakness. Designed, as it was, in the 1990s, its targeting technology did not reflect the modularity and resilience of the next two decades. Despite regular upgrades and additions, including the current Block 35 build, Air and Space Forces magazine reports that there is no single system on which F22s and F35s can directly share targeting and situational data with the rest of the force. At a certain point, rebuilding the F22’s avionics is simply not cost-effective.

Finally, the F22 was designed to fight Soviet aircraft over Eastern Europe, within easy range of allied facilities. The next fight could take place hundreds or thousands of miles from land bases in highly contested air and cyberspace. Air-to-air refueling is hazardous in a contested environment, and external fuel pods present too great a radar signature. The F22’s fuel capacity, while far superior to that of many similar fighters, is still unable to match that new requirement.

A new lease of life?

Recognizing the need for a 6th-generation fighter aircraft, the Department of Defense rolled out its Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) proposal in 2014. The NGAD program will replace the F22 and the F15EX as the US’ predominant air-to-air system. Among other goals, NGAD will develop a stealthier manned aircraft, additional unmanned “wingmen,” farther-reaching sensors, and a common communication and targeting system. It will also be more modular and easier to upgrade than current systems.

However, those are longer-term goals. In the short term, the F22 has received a significant new investment designed to prop up the program and maintain air superiority. Newly designed low-aspect external fuel pods and communication system upgrades have shown some promise against the F22’s significant weaknesses, keeping it in the fight until a new generation of warriors, aviators, and strategists decides how war will continue to change in the 22nd century.

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