F-22 vs. F-35: The Fighter Plane Showdown the U.S. Miliary Never Wanted

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Key Points: The F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II are fifth-generation fighters with distinct missions: air superiority and multirole operations.

-Despite this, the U.S. government chose to pit them against each other during the 2009 Great Recession, prioritizing the F-35 for its versatility and cost-effectiveness.

-This decision led to the premature cancellation of the F-22, leaving the U.S. with a limited fleet of advanced air superiority fighters.

-While the F-35 excels in armament and stealth, it lacks the dogfighting prowess and speed of the F-22.

-With rising great-power competition, the absence of more F-22s is now a glaring strategic gap.

F-22 vs. F-35: The Debate Over America’s Fighter Jet Dominance

It might seem ridiculous to some of you who are versed in the intricacies of aircraft, but there is a fight between those who think the F-35 Lightning II is a great plane and those who believe the F-22A Raptor is better.

One might find it absurd to even have this discussion because, although they are both fifth-generation American warplanes, they have vastly different mission sets.

The F-35 is a multirole warplane whereas the F-22 is a pure air superiority fighter. Indeed, these two birds were originally intended to operate together in mixed squadrons, with the F-22 providing cover for the F-35 as it bombed ground targets.

Yet, it isn’t just internet personalities who are trying to create this comparison. The United States government is responsible for creating the division. In fact, seeking the answer to which bird was better was precisely what the Obama administration asked its Pentagon to do in 2009. 

This, frankly, false choice was forced upon the US military for a practical purpose. Namely former President Barack Obama was tasked with making cuts wherever he could as the new commander-in-chief who was assuming power during the Great Recession. 

So, the Pentagon bean counters and strategists went about trying to answer this awful question. It was hard to answer, not only because they are two totally different warplanes. But because both systems are wildly complex, difficult to maintain, and therefore, both are insanely expensive programs. Ultimately, however, the Pentagon assessed that the F-35 was the better plane than the F-22. 

Or, at least, the Department of Defense reasoned that they could get more bang for the taxpayer’s buck from the F-35 than they could from the F-22.

After the assessment was made that the F-35 was better than the F-22, the Obama administration ordered to the shuttering of the F-22 supply chain many years before the program was planned to be shutdown. In essence, what many analysts believe to be the most advanced warplane ever made, the F-22 was prematurely canceled. 

Now, as great state rivals rise to challenge the Americans in ways not experienced since the twentieth century, the United States military sure could use an air superiority fighter much more even than a multirole fighter that was intended to be used primarily against ground targets, like the F-35. 

Alas, we are left with only the fleet of F-22s that had been completed before the 2009-10 cancellation of their production line and the F-35, which is not yet up to the size that the original plans for the F-35 had called for. 

Between China and Russia returning fully to their great state competitor roles, the US military will need planes that can dogfight. The F-35 can certainly hold its own in a close-range dogfight but it is not designed to be a premier dogfighter the way that the F-22 is meant to be. The F-35 is built to engage its foes from beyond visual range, relying heavily on stealth to keep its presence masked from enemy fighters. America’s F-22 is also a stealth plane, but it can lick the best Chinese or Russian planes in a dogfight. 

What’s more, the F-22 Raptor outperforms the F-35 in speed and climb rate. Where the F-35 beats the F-22, though, is in its armaments package. Compared to the sleek F-22, the F-35 is basically a flying missile truck. That’s because of the various mission sets the Lightning II is meant to perform—including nuclear deterrence missions. Ultimately, what’s needed is a sizable fleet of both the F-22 and F-35s, as originally planned. 

Sadly, that will never happen. Between the cancelation of the F-22’s production line and the significant cost overruns and production delays of the F-35, what we see today is basically what we will have. 

Plus, the F-22 has a few additional hurdles standing in its way. Unlike the F-35, which was spread throughout the US military, with the Navy, Air Force, and Marines all getting variants of this system, the F-22 was an exclusive Air Force project. There were attempts during the development of the F-22 to get the Navy to jump on with a Sea Raptor variant but they ultimately passed on the proposal. 

Moreover, the F-35’s production line is shared among the militaries of multiple US allies. The F-22 was exclusive to the United States. US leaders are reticent to have other nations assist with the production line of the F-22 because that would mean opening highly sensitive (even more than what the F-35 has), proprietary classified US military technologies that the government wants to keep under wraps.

F-22 vs. F-35: A Fighter Contest That Never Should Happen 

It’s a shame that we even must pit these two birds against each other. But that is precisely what we were made to do. It is understandable that the government chose the F-35 over the F-22. Yet, it is deeply concerning. After all, the government made a very short-sighted decision, believing that the F-35 would be a better investment because it was more relevant to the strategic situation in 2009. 

Few in power dared to think about what the strategic situation would be a decade or longer from that point.

Today, we now know that the United States desperately needs an abundant supply of advanced air superiority fighters of the kind that the F-22 represent. 

About the Author: 

Brandon J. Weichert, a Senior Editor at 19FortyFive.com and a contributor at Popular Mechanics, consults regularly with various government institutions and private organizations on geopolitical issues. Weichert’s writings have appeared in multiple publications, including the Washington Times, The American Spectator, and the National Interest. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine is available for purchase wherever books are sold. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.