In the future, the F-22 Raptor won’t be fighting alone

The F-22 Raptor was designed for an 8,000 flight-hour lifespan, and with no means of replacing airframes as they age out of service – that’s effectively it, barring an even pricier service life extension program. However, in 2022, it was reported that the most heavily used Raptors in the American stable had yet to reach the 4,000-hour mark, and with peacetime operations usually accruing only 250 or so flight hours per year, it isn’t unreasonable to say F-22s could keep flying for decades to come. 

But the question remains, even with lots of hours left on the airframes and billions of dollars poured into upgrades, are America’s 150 F-22 Raptors enough to take on hundreds of Chinese J-20s and J-31s as they continue to pour out Beijing’s production lines? The objective answer is… likely not. 

But then, could those 150 upgraded F-22s, accompanied by 300 more AI-enabled collaborative combat drones, backed up by hundreds of Tier 3 or Block 4 upgraded F-35s, all carrying next-generation air-to-air weapons like the AIM-260? The answer there is… almost certainly. 

And that’s before we consider the potential air-to-air capabilities of the B-21 Raider, Super Hornets flying a hundred miles back armed with the new extremely long-range AIM-174s, thousands of battle-proven 4th generation fighters equipped with advanced electronic warfare capabilities, new air-launched decoys and jammers, and an ever-growing list of allies operating F-35s of their own.

To put it simply, fielding 200 new NGAD fighters would offer the United States the most direct and potent solution for air supremacy in the decades ahead, and it seems likely that this effort will ultimately see production in one form or another. But it’s the responsibility of the US Defense apparatus to plan for the possibility that America may not see another high-end fighter emerge for years to come.

And if that is the case, the F-22 Raptor may not be the best fighter America has the means to build in the 21st century… But without a doubt, it will still be the best fighter any nation has in the sky. 

And that just might be enough. 

About the Author: Alex Hollings 

Alex Hollings is the editor of the Sandboxx blog and a former U.S. Marine that writes about defense policy and technology. He lives with his wife and daughter in Georgia.

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