The year is 2013. Iran’s advanced radar system has detected a Predator drone flying unaccompanied and unauthorized over their airspace. The Iranian Air Force scrambled two Vietnam-era F-4 Phantom fighter jets to shoot down the drone. Upon encountering the drone in flight, the Iranian pilots would follow the drone for several minutes waiting for the green light to shoot it down. Suddenly over the radio, an American voice is heard:
“You really ought to go home”
One of the Iranian pilots glances to his left. Rising over his F-4’s wing-tip he sees the ominous diamond-shaped wing profile of an F-22 Raptor, previously undetected by either himself or his wingman. The Iranian is prepared to engage the American jet until his wingman says over the radio that he spotted another F-22 similarly appearing beside him. The Iranians are forced to allow the Americans to operate in their airspace or otherwise risk an international incident.
The F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon were the dominant US fighter jets in the late Cold War. The F-15 was a dedicated air superiority fighter, meaning that it specialized in fighter-versus-fighter combat. The F-16 was smaller, more maneuverable, and more versatile, with a compromise of having a weaker armament than the F-15. The F-16 would remain the main multi-role fighter until superseded by the well-known F/A-18 Hornet (Top Gun: Maverick), but the F-15’s replacement would require more than just all-around upgrades; a completely new platform and doctrine, or method of use, would be developed for the new craft.
Starting in the year 1981, the US government would run a development program for an Advanced Tactical Fighter, or the ATF project. Two companies would produce a product: Lockheed-Martin and Northrup-Grumman. The two prototypes would be quite similar, with the Lockheed version being more versatile and agile while the Northrup version would be faster and stealthier. The government would opt for the Lockheed YF-22, and it became the F-22 we know today after more development.
The F-22 is the most advanced and most powerful air superiority fighter in the world today, which means that it would be expected to win battles against nearly any other nation’s fighters. It was also designed fully with stealth in mind, incorporating radar-absorbent materials and a unique shape to minimize its radar cross-section. Every aspect of the aircraft, from its internal weapon bays to its heat-dissipating exhaust nozzles, contributes to its ability to evade detection. Beyond stealth, the F-22’s design emphasizes survivability and lethality through its integration of thrust-vectoring engines for superior maneuverability and supercruise capability, allowing sustained supersonic flight without afterburners. Its sleek frame combines cutting-edge aerodynamics with advanced avionics, making it not only one of the most agile fighters in the sky but also one of the most situationally aware, enabling pilots to dominate the battlespace.
The F-22’s capabilities extend beyond raw speed and stealth. Equipped with advanced sensors, such as the AN/APG-77 radar, the F-22 can track, target, and engage multiple threats simultaneously at extreme ranges. Its thrust-vectoring engines grant it extraordinary agility, allowing it to execute complex maneuvers that would be impossible for conventional fighters. The jet’s armament includes a mix of AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles for long-range engagements and AIM-9 Sidewinders for dogfights, stored internally to preserve its stealth profile. In regards to its stealth capabilities, most stealth is measured in an aircraft’s radar cross-section, or how large it appears to a radar device. For instance, the early Cold War heavy bomber, the B-52, known for how big and unstealthy it is, has a radar cross-section of 100 square meters. The B-2 stealth bomber, the modern stealth bomber you can find stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, has a cross-section of about 0.1 square meters despite being approximately half the real size of the B-52. The F-22 has an amazingly small radar cross-section of only 0.0001 square meters, which means it is harder to track on a radar than an actual bumblebee.
In simulated engagements, the F-22 has consistently demonstrated superiority over contemporary and next-generation fighters. It achieves high kill ratios, often exceeding 20:1, in exercises against opponents flying advanced fourth-generation aircraft like the Su-30 or Eurofighter Typhoon. The F-22’s dominance stems from its ability to engage and destroy targets before they can even detect its presence, leveraging a first-look, first-shot, first-kill advantage. Pilots also benefit from its intuitive cockpit design, which integrates data from multiple sensors into a single, coherent view of the battlespace. It has engaged in air-to-ground combat in the Middle East, notably Syria, where it led to over 200 Russian paramilitary casualties and prevented even a single American-allied casualty from occurring.
While the F-22 has seen limited combat due to its specialized role, it achieved its first confirmed air-to-air kill in February 2023. During an operation near South Carolina, an F-22 successfully intercepted and destroyed a suspected Chinese reconnaissance balloon, marking a symbolic milestone in the jet’s operational history. This incident has been highlighted as the crux of arguments against the F-22, leading to jokes such as “The US Air Force waiting nearly 20 years and $70 billion for their most powerful fighter to shoot down a balloon”
Despite its cutting-edge capabilities, the F-22’s production was curtailed due to its high cost and changing geopolitical priorities. Initially, the U.S. Air Force planned to procure 750 units, but the program ended after only 195 were produced, with 187 delivered to operational units. This decision was influenced by the end of the Cold War and the emergence of asymmetric threats, which placed less emphasis on air superiority and more on multi-role platforms.
The F-22 and the F-35 represent two distinct philosophies in modern air combat. While the F-22 excels in air superiority, the F-35 was designed as a multi-role fighter capable of ground attack, reconnaissance, and electronic warfare. As part of the Joint Strike Fighter program, the F-35 was intended to serve as a cost-effective solution for multiple military branches, replacing several older aircraft. However, this versatility came at the expense of some of the F-22’s specialized advantages, such as its unparalleled stealth and agility. Although the two jets occasionally compete for funding and attention, they are complementary rather than redundant, with the F-22 acting as a high-end solution and the F-35 filling a broader range of roles.
