With the Air Force already looking toward developing a “sixth-generation” air intercept fighter in the coming years, the venerable F-22 may be replaced before it ever has a chance to really show its chops in a dog fight with a worthy enemy, like Russia’s Su-57 or China’s J-20. ![]() ![]() ![]() Subsequent cannibalization of the production line for the sake of the F-35 rapidly eliminated any hope of an F-22 resurgence.Īs a result, the United States may possess the best air superiority fighter ever to take to the skies, but it has precious few of them - just the 187 that were originally built (and this number includes some with airframes that have been damaged in flight mishaps and natural disasters.) The Lockheed Martin-built F-22 saw its production halted just about halfway through its initial run, thanks to (arguably shortsighted) defense cutbacks during the Obama era. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter tends to garner the lion’s share of media attention, but it was the F-22 Raptor that introduced the world to the very concept of a fifth-generation fighter.
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