F-22B. It could be called the new one Raptor, potentially in pre-production starting from the end of next year, after the drastic change of course of the legislators, with deliveries from the 2020.
As is known, in its revision to the bill for the 2017, the Armed Services Committee officially requested the cost for the acquisition of 194 new F-22. However, a certain predisposition of the Pentagon in making the already more expensive and stratified modernization program of its history complicated is undeniable. For the Air Force alone, the US finds itself having to finance new tankers and bombers at the same time stealth, radar and search and rescue helicopters. Then there is a new one A, obviously the F-35 and the F-22. Finally, there is the AX program to replace the A-10.
If the F-22B were to go into production, the Pentagon will have to give up some platforms: it is a fact that is as clear as it is inevitable. New 194 Raptor they could cost US taxpayers, a rough figure, something like 30 billions of dollars. Let's talk about the acquisition costs alone, which could represent the smallest part of the new Raptor program. If aerodynamically, the F-22 is still in line with current threats (the changes would still be minimal) represented by the fifth Russian and Chinese generation, the same cannot be said for its software and hardware.
Considering the entry into service, which took place in the 2005, the Air Force was forced to request additional funding from 1,5 billions of dollars to standardize software and hardware for all Raptor on line. Part of the electronics designed for the Raptor, in fact, no longer exists. Most of the hardware is therefore dated, which is why it will have to be redesigned from scratch in any case. Here then the idea of the Raptor-B program could take place: an F-22 with the F-35 avionics.
The F-35 tactical fighter is not a dogfighter, but implements the best of existing technology. Combining these capabilities with the revised design of the pure F-22 fighter aircraft could create a new, advanced fifth generation platform. Considering the design still in progress, it would not be wrong to even speak of an 5,5 generation. If it takes shape, the F-22B program could implement technology from other programs such as the B-21. The powertrain designed by Pratt & Whitney is considered a masterpiece of engineering and efficiency, even if the specifications are still covered by military secrecy.
The only fighter from the planet's aerial domain, the F-22 Raptor, it was built in exemplary 186 only, but only 123 are converted to combat. Considering the current threats and contexts where the presence of a fifth generation platform is required, the Air Force would need at least 382 Raptor, 300 of which converted to combat.
If he got the go-ahead, the funds were found as well as the structures where to place the production line, the first F-22B could come out between the end of the 2020 and the first six months of the 2021.
(photo: US Air Force)
