Why USAF don’t like F-22 anymore. F-22 vs F-35
F-22 will go away, But not before an upgrade of $10.9B and NGAD Maturity
F-22 Raptor lacks the magazine depth and range
exact timing of its retirement will depend on how quickly the Air Force can put its sixth-generation fighter into production
By about the 2030 timeframe, you’re talking about a 40-year-old platform, and it’s just not going to be the right tool for the job, especially when we’re talking about defending our friends like Taiwan and Japan against a Chinese threat that grows and grows
treating [the F-22] as the bridge to the NGAD capability,
acronym for the Next Generation Air Dominance program, under which the service plans to develop a sixth-generation fighter to replace the F-22.
In a war game the Air Force held last year, which simulated a Chinese invasion of Taiwan set in the mid-2030s, the service relied on NGAD to penetrate into areas populated by Chinese threats.
We couldn’t use the F-22 in that way,
F-22′s limitations,
include a small fleet size that contributes to high operating costs and low mission capable rates.
relatively short-range — only 1,850 nautical miles with two external fuel tanks —
and its weapons magazine is small and lacks depth and range.
survivability will eventually be at stake as adversary nations field more capable air defense systems and its stealth advantage degrades,
F-22′s range and magazine depth issues aren’t that different than those from the F-35,
F-22 can carry six AIM-120C AMRAAM and two AIM-9 missiles internally for air-to-air missions
F-35 can carry only four AMRAAMs inside its payload bay while maintaining a stealth configuration
F-35 is newer, more flexible and easier to maintain,
longer service life ahead of it than what the F-22 can offer
new weapons incoming as part of its Block 4 upgrade program.
186 F-22s in the Air Force’s inventory compared to 283 F-35A models as of May 8
F-35 is easier to modernize than the F-22
there will a request in the fiscal 2022 budget to make targeted upgrades to the F-22′s sensor capability
new weapons that can be used across the entire fighter inventory.
budget submissions that we are pursuing advanced air to air missiles
Air Force on Friday awarded Lockheed Martin a $10.9 billion contract to modernize its F-22 Raptor fighter jet
the contract will cover services including upgrades, enhancements and fixes to the Raptor. Lockheed will also provide logistics services and modernization hardware kit procurement.
If all contract options are exercised, the Pentagon expects the work to be finished by Oct. 31, 2031
0 Comments