For at least the fifth time in less than a year, a Lockheed Martin F-22A Raptor experienced an incident at Kadena Air Base, Japan. Stars & Stripes citing local media reported that over the weekend, one of the United States Air Force's fifth-generation Air Superiority fighters "made an emergency landing" at the base, which is known as the Keystone of the Pacific due to its strategic importance in the region.

The Raptor is among the fleet of aircraft currently being rotated to Japan, as the United States Air Force is gradually retiring its aging F-15 Eagle fighters.

The F-22 Raptor was taking part in "routine training" when it made the emergency landing at the airbase. It is unclear if it suffered any damage, but the pilot is not believed to have suffered any injuries.

"Precautionary landings are standard procedure when pilots notice something out of the ordinary with their aircraft," Major Alli Stormer, spokesperson for Kadena's 18th Wing told Stars & Stripes in an email on Monday. She added, "We are committed to conducting safe flight operations as we uphold our defense commitments."

Latest in a String of Incidents at Kadena Involving the F-22

The precautionary landing marked only the most recent F-22 Raptor mishap at the base, which may put into question the readiness of the fighters.

As previously reported, an F-22 Raptor from the 525th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron experienced a tire blowout during takeoff at Kadena in October 2024. The air superiority fighter was forced to abort its flight. A second Raptor also experienced a tire failure while landing on the same day. Though seemingly minor, such mishaps can result in substantial damage, potentially costing thousands to millions of dollars in repairs­ and likely grounding the aircraft.

That same month, another F-22 also "made a precautionary landing," Stars & Stripes further noted, adding that there was "a similar incident in September involving a Raptor deployed from Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia" in September. Engine failure has been cited as the issue with the Virginia-based F-22.
It was in April 2024 that a Raptor experienced a nose gear issue upon landing at the base in Okinawa. The incident was seen as part of a pattern of similar problems that have affected both the F-22 and F-35 fleets. It served to highlights ongoing concerns about the reliability of landing gear in advanced fighter jets. Critics have questioned the mechanical robustness of the landing gear on the fifth-generation jets, and it is unclear what efforts are being made to address the issues.
 
500,000 Flight Hours and Counting­—But Is It Reliable?

In April 2024, the F-22 Raptor hit a significant milestone­: 500,000 flight hours. That is a major accomplishment for any combat aircraft, but it is also notable given that fewer than 200 of the aircraft rolled off the assembly line.

The string of incidents, albeit minor, could be a portent of the dire situation the Air Force may find itself in as the F-22 continues to rack up the flight hours and be deployed to potential hotspots around the globe.

The Air Force's fleet of F-22s officially stands at 186 aircraft, but as Alex Hollings wrote for Business Insider last year, "Only around 130 of those 186 delivered F-22s were ever operational, and today the number of combat-ready F-22s is likely in the double digits."

While the F-22 is still the right aircraft to deter China in the Indo-Pacific, the ongoing mishaps are also sending a message that the Raptor is getting long on the tooth and perhaps not quite as capable as the Air Force has claimed. Then there is the fact that each incident likely grounds an aircraft for days or weeks—and some of the repairs, ­such as to the landing gear,­ may take even longer to address. Some mishaps involving fifth-gen fighters have been so great that the aircraft involved need to be retired from service entirely.

The F-22 may be the best air superiority fighter in the world today, but these incidents show that the plane is far from perfect.

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: [email protected].

Image: Wikimedia Commons.