The F-22 is well known for the famous phrase “first shot, first kill,” meaning its stealth and speed position it to deliver crippling, impactful first strikes as may be needed in a combat engagement.
Speed of deployment is also critical for the F-22, which is why the Air Force pioneered and maintained a “Rapid Raptor” program to ensure that the F-22 could arrive and attack any location worldwide in 24 hours.
This was accomplished by ensuring that F-22s and their necessary supplies and maintainers were strategically positioned worldwide to ensure this 24-hour attack mission.
F-22 Sensors & Electronics
An F-22 pilot from Langley AFB in Virginia told me years ago that many regard the F-22 as an “aerial quarterback” given its ability to connect with and engage sensors, targeting detail and datalinks with multiple 4th-generation aircraft.
In more recent years, the F-22 Raptor has dramatically improved its ability to share data with the F-35 using two-way LINK 16 functionality. Previously, F-22-to-F-35 LINK 16 datalink connectivity was limited to one-way communication, something the Air Force has upgraded in recent years.
Furthermore, the F-22 has received a greatly enhanced AESA radar capable of tracking multiple targets and threat trajectories simultaneously.
Also of great significance, F-22-to-F-35 connectivity has taken yet another leap forward by experimenting with a software-programmable radio from Northrop called the Freedom 550. This radio not only enables two-way data exchange between the 5th-generation fighters but also preserves the aircraft’s “stealth” properties by making the RF signal difficult to identify, jam, or intercept. This is highly significant as using any kind of detectable RF signature can enable an enemy to detect the aircraft’s location or even intercept the signal.
F-22 Raptor vs. NGAD
These variables raise an extremely significant and timely question quite relevant to the Air Force’s current 6th-gen predicament. In recent years, the service’s Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) 6th-gen stealth fighter has been regarded as a follow-on, more capable F-22 replacement or successor.
Now that the service’s 6th-gen aircraft is potentially being scaled back or re-evaluated, perhaps some Air Force weapons developers believe upgrades to the F-22 could obviate the need for an expensive, manned 6th-generation aircraft. Should this be the case, it would present a certain paradoxical irony, as the potential emergence of a 6th-gen aircraft was likely one key reason why the Air Force chose “not” to resurrect and restart an F-22 production line years ago.
“Budget considerations” were stated at the time as the reason why the F-22 line was not restarted years ago when the need became clear for more Raptor fighter. Yet, one cannot help but wonder if early conceptual work regarding the promise of a 6th-gen F-22 replacement also influenced the decision. Could it be that now, in part for budget reasons as well, the service is compromising leap-ahead 6th-generation breakthrough technology due to the promise of upgraded F-22s?
Into the Future
The answers to these questions linger in a mist of unclear or unknown variables to an extent. How are paradigm-changing new technologies in stealth fighter jet speed, maneuverability, stealth, sensing, computing, and weapons? Are they sufficient to justify an entirely new aircraft such as NGAD? Or could an extensively upgraded Raptor suffice and meet future requirements itself?
Although little is known about the primarily “black” NGAD program, judging from the external configurations of available industry renderings of NGAD, it would appear that new kinds of thrust, vectoring, aerial maneuverability, and stealth technology may have become possible. Not only this, breakthroughs in AI-enabled sensing, computer processing, and weapons integration might also bring paradigm-changing leaps ahead in performance out of reach for even a massively upgraded Raptor.
If true, this would suggest that perhaps the Air Force is ill-advised to scale back NGAD massively.
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