Why Does the US Export the F-35 Lightning but Not the Older F-22? (2024)

FAQs

Why Does the US Export the F-35 Lightning but Not the Older F-22? ›

Unlike the vast majority of U.S. military aircraft, the F-22 was never designed to be exported. As such, it was packed with classified technology and produced through advanced production methodologies that the United States would rather keep close to the chest.

Despite interest from key U.S. allies like Australia, Israel, and Japan, the F-22 Raptor was never sold abroad, primarily due to concerns over protecting its advanced technological secrets and maintaining regional military balances.

Regarding stealth technology, the F-22 Raptors are considered the stealthiest fighter jets on the planet. The aircraft boasts an even reduced cross-radar section than that of the F-35s. Despite being loaded with state-of-the-art features, the F-35s were built for air-to-ground missions.

The F-22 was designed to do battle with peer fighters in a war against a peer power. So far the only peer fighters exist strictly as small-run prototypes and paper projects, so its production run was cut short to avoid spending billions and billions of dollars building airplanes the Air Force didn't actually need.

It's an expensive “no compromises" type of design for that one role. As such it costs more to operate per flight hour than your typical jet. In the time since F-22 has been deployed, since December 2005, the U.S. has not been at war with any advanced adversary.

Unlike the vast majority of U.S. military aircraft, the F-22 was never designed to be exported. As such, it was packed with classified technology and produced through advanced production methodologies that the United States would rather keep close to the chest.

Regardless of the F-22 Raptor's prowess, this fifth-generation platform is incapable of landing on a carrier. In a nutshell, Air Force pilots are simply not trained to fly on aircraft carriers. In addition to this lack of training, Raptors are quite hefty, weighing roughly 45,000 pounds.

F-22 Is Better at Aerial Combat

The F-22 is faster than the F-35 – MACH 2.2 versus MACH 1.6 for the Lightning II. The F-22 is 30 percent heavier, but it may be more maneuverable due to its Pratt & Whitney F119 engines providing more thrust (70,000 pounds) than the single Pratt & Whitney F-135 engine on the F-35.

The F-22 Is Used By The U.S. Air Force, Not The Navy

However, the F-22 is used by the Air Force, an entirely separate institution. As such, it would have made no sense for Maverick to pilot an F-22 of the aircraft in Top Gun: Maverick.

The F-22 is planned to remain a cornerstone of the USAF's fighter fleet until its succession by the crewed Next Generation Air Dominance fighter.

Why is the F-22 so feared? ›

The F-22 Raptor is the world's most advanced stealth fighter, and it has set the standard for modern military aviation. Its advanced stealth and avionics systems, as well as its unmatched agility, make it a formidable force to be reckoned with.

The F-22 fighter jet took decades and almost $70 billion to develop. While it's been considered combat ready since 2005, the F-22 had never been used in combat until air strikes began in Syria this week. The F-22 fighter jet took decades and almost $70 billion to develop.

The government did not block production. They made it illegal to sell the F22 outside of the US which made it too expensive for even the US procure past 187 aircraft. No, F22 won't be coming back because we have an even more “ powerful” fighter that can be sold to other countries.

The F-22, a critical component of the Global Strike Task Force, is designed to project air dominance, rapidly and at great distances and defeat threats attempting to deny access to our nation's Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps. The F-22 cannot be matched by any known or projected fighter aircraft.

March 27, 1999, was a rainy night, a Soviet-vintage Pechora did what has not been done so far – shoot down a stealth fighter.

While the F-22 is an amazing fighter aircraft, the plane does have its share of challenges. For one, F-22 Raptors have a long checklist of tasks that need to be completed before a flight. There has been one crash years back that the Air Force doesn't like to discuss. Reliability has been a concern.

The US Air Force has been in an unseemly hurry to rid itself of its Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor stealth fighters. Its argument: the 32 least-upgraded Block 20 versions of the supersonic, fifth-generation stealth fighter aren't suitable for combat – and together cost nearly half a billion dollars a year to maintain.

The problem is that the jet was too far ahead of its time. The Iron Curtain fell before the F–22 entered service, meaning that the Soviet MiG and Sukhoi fighters it was designed to fight were no longer a significant enough threat to justify its existence.

The Air Force originally planned to retire 250 aircraft in FY25 as part of its budget request in order to save more than $2 billion. Those retirements would include 32 of its Block 20 F-22 jets the service says would cost too much to prepare for combat.