Why Not? Upgraded F-22 Stealth Fighters Will Fly With F-35s & 6th-Gen Until 2070
The U.S. Air Force F-22 fleet was prematurely truncated around 169 aircraft following the collapse of the Soviet Union
KRIS OSBORN, WARRIOR MAVEN - CENTER FOR MILITARY MODERNIZATIONAPR 24, 2023
by Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
(Washington D.C.) The U.S. Air Force F-22 fleet was prematurely truncated around 169 aircraft following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. The decision was in retrospect regarded as ill-advised and detrimental to the U.S. Air Force’s ability to maintain its edge over great power rivals such as Russia and China. Perhaps decision-makers at the time were distracted by counterinsurgency and operated with only a short-term threat calculus. After all, while built in the 1990s, the F-22 was first introduced in 2005 during the height of the ground wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Circling the Fleet
The size of the fleet, however, is merely one of several reasons why even the older F-22s should not be retired. An ability to “mass” F-22s for their well-known “first-strike, first-kill” mission mantra would be compromised should the fleet be greatly reduced. However, continued service life for the F-22 would be much less relevant if the aircraft did not retain or expand upon its combat performance abilities.
This is the most vital reason why the F-22 should be extended as long as possible, because 3.2b software upgrades have massively improved the attack capacity of the craft’s air-to-air weapons and its stealth coating has been maintained and reinforced. This 3.2b software upgrade, which began development and use several years ago, improved the guidance, targeting, precision, and range of several impactful air-to-air weapons such as the AIM-9X and AIM-120D. With this enhancement, which is now operational across the fleet, the F-22 has arguably maintained its air-to-air supremacy moving into the future.
https://warriormaven.com/air/why-not-upgraded-f-22-stealth-fighters-will-fly-with-f-35s-6th-gen-until-2070
