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One Word Answer: Timing. The F-22 Raptor is a 5th-generation marvel, excelling in stealth, speed, agility, and firepower. It can carry an arsenal of air-to-air missiles and JDAMs, achieve MACH 1.8 without afterburners, and outmaneuver adversaries with its thrust-vectoring engines.

-Its AN/APG-77 radar enables precise, first-strike capabilities.

-Despite its strengths, the F-22 faced challenges: high costs, limited mission adaptability during counter-insurgency campaigns, and a ban on foreign sales. With advancements like the F-35 and Next Generation Air Dominance fighter on the horizon, the F-22 will retire in the 2030s.

-Its legacy highlights the importance of aligning advanced technologies with strategic priorities.

Why the F-22 Raptor’s Greatest Enemy Was Timing

Maybe the F-22 Raptor’s biggest enemy is timing.

The F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jet, an excellent air superiority fighter, encountered a unique timing problem during the Global War on Terror. At a time when the fighter could go head-to-head with any airplane in the world, the mission for the U.S. military was counter-insurgency and anti-terror operations, not dogfighting. The F-22 had no one to fight except for the enemy on the ground.

The Air Force originally wanted 750 Raptors in 2009, but the branch finally ordered only 187. While the acquisition program for the F-22 did not go according to plan, this war bird is still exceptional.

Here are five reasons why this fighter plane is so special.

F-22: Chock Full of Munitions

First, the 5th generation F-22 can serve as an impressive weapons truck.

It has three internal weapons bays on the side and underneath the airplane. It carries an assortment of radar-guided air-to-air missiles and JDAMs for combat missions. In close air support precision strike mode, it can deploy 1,000-pound JDAMs and 250-pound Small Diameter Bombs.

Speed and Agility Make It Difficult to Shoot Down

Second, it has noteworthy speed with the ability to hit MACH 1.8 without afterburners and MACH 2 with afterburners.

A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor receives fuel from a U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker assigned to the 340th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron, above the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, March 14, 2022. The F-22 Raptor is a fifth-generation aircraft that combines stealth, supercruise, maneuverability, integrated avionics, and is designed to project air dominance, rapidly and at great distances, and deter regional aggressors while deployed in the USCENTCOM AOR. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Frank Rohrig)

Twin Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 turbofan engines are equipped with two-dimensional thrust vectoring nozzles. Supercruise is an important feature of this power plant. Each engine has 35,000 pounds of thrust.

That is more thrust than any other fighter in the U.S. arsenal. The ceiling is 65,000 feet. Combat range is 800 miles and is longer with aerial re-fueling. Ferry range is more than 1,850 miles.

F-22 Has Unique Ability to Shoot to Kill

Third, the stealth, radar, and sensor package are second-to-none.

The Raptor can fire stand-off missiles after tracking a target without being seen. This advantage is enabled by the AN/AGP-77 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar for better situational awareness. The concept here is for the F-22 to identify, track, and shoot quicker than the enemy can react.

Is It Easier to Maintain?

Fourth, the F-22 is designed to have less maintenance requirements than other fighters.

Lockheed Martin describes this as unparalleled sustainment qualities. “The key to F-22 sustainment is integration. Our strategic partnership with the U.S. Air Force helps to merge highly complex sustainment activities into one unified operation. This integration allows for greater efficiency, lower cost, and enhanced responsiveness to the needs of the operators and maintainers in the field,” the defense contractor claimed.

Aerial Combat Ability Does Not Disappoint

The fifth reason the F-22 is unique is its dogfighting capabilities. Combining stealth, speed maneuverability, thrust, radar strength, and armaments gives enemy pilots headaches. The F-22 can take an adversary out of the sky without being seen. It will easily outclass Russian or Chinese fighters.

F-22. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

A 1st Fighter Wing’s F-22 Raptor from Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., pulls into position to accept fuel from a KC-135 Stratotanker with the 756th Air Refueling Squadron, Joint Base Andrews Naval Air Facility, Md., off the east coast on May 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 1 FW commander, announced the 27th Fighter Squadron as fully operational capable to fly, fight and win with the F-22.

Some Disadvantages Hamper the F-22 Program

However, some downsides led to the program being canceled.

The F-22 turned out to be expensive to buy and costly to keep in the air. The sustainment was not as good as claimed. The avionics were a problem, and they quickly were deemed obsolete. The avionics system was part of a larger upgrade package that cost $11 billion. That investment still has not kept the avionics up to date.

The production line also stalled because, unlike the F-35, the F-22 was not allowed to have foreign customers due to its advanced stealth and radar technologies, which forced an embargo.

A bigger problem was the limited mission set. The F-22 was created to overwhelm a near-peer adversary, but the Global War on Terror necessitated a ground attack mission rather than an emphasis on dogfighting. This did not play to the fighter’s strengths.

The Retirement Dance Begins

The F-22 will begin to be retired in the 2030s, its technology eclipsed by the F-35 and what is planned to become the Next Generation Air Defense fighter or NGAD. The program is paused for the moment, but the Air Force has committed to the program, even if now in a holding pattern.

F-22 Raptor Fighter

A U.S. Air Force F-22A Raptor parked on the flightline at Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base, Romania, April 25, 2016. The aircraft will conduct air training with other Europe-based aircraft and will also forward deploy from England to maximize training opportunities while demonstrating the U.S. commitment to NATO allies and the security of Europe. The Raptors are deployed from the 95th Fighter Squadron, Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Ryan Crane/Released)

It’s too bad the F-22 is being phased out. This is a great airplane with many attributes that make it special. The problem was that it peaked in popularity at a time when the Air Force could not take advantage of its dogfighting ability and then the F-35 became the multi-mission go-to fighter that pushed the F-22 out.

Thus, the Raptor has a limited time in service and should serve as a lesson to the Air Force to not develop a next-generation fighter without taking advantage of its main attribute – to blow enemy fighters out of the sky before some of its systems become obsolete.

About the Author

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. Brent is a Senior Editor for National Security Journal.