F-22 vs. F-35: The F22 Raptor might be years ahead of the F35 Lightning II regarding air superiority, dogfighting skill, and maneuverability. The F35 is more suited to combined strike missions than air-to-ground attack missions.
F-35 as a ground attack fighter and the F-22 as air superiority. Both fighter aircraft were initially developed as complimentary fighters. However, due to the enormous unanticipated cost overrun on both fighters, F22 production must be scaled back.
F-22 vs. F-35 Which Is Better
F-22
The F-22 Raptor is a single-pilot, twin-engine, all-weather stealth tactical fighter aircraft manufactured by Lockheed Martin for the United States Air Force.
The plane was developed under the United States Air Force’s Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program to establish air superiority and ground control through assault, electronic warfare, and signal intelligence capability.
Most of the F-22’s airframe and weapon systems, as well as the final assembly, were handled by Lockheed Martin, while Boeing was responsible for the aircraft’s wings, aft fuselage, avionics integration, and training systems. The plane was a joint effort between the two companies.
After being designated F-22 and F/A-22, the F-22A entered service in December 2005. Despite its lengthy development and operational difficulties, the USAF considers the F-22 a key tactical aircraft.
It has the best stealth technology, the best aerodynamic performance, and the most advanced avionics systems of any plane in the world.
At one point, 750 ATFs were scheduled to be purchased by the service. After years of delays, a ban on exports, and the development of the more adaptable F-35, the program was scaled back to a total of 187 active production aircraft in 2009. In 2012, we saw the final F-22 leave the factory.
The F-22 Raptor is a 5th-generation fighter that the USAF considers fourth-generation technology for stealth planes.
F-35
The F-35 Lightning II is a member of the American Lockheed Martin F-35 family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft designed to carry out air superiority and strike missions.
In addition to these functions, it can conduct electronic warfare and provide ISR services. Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems are two of Lockheed Martin’s principal partners on the F-35 program.
The F-35A uses a conventional runway for takeoffs and landings, while the F-35B is optimized for shorter runways, and the F-35C can take off and land vertically from aircraft carriers.
The aircraft is based on the Lockheed Martin X-35, which beat out the Boeing X-32 for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program in 2001.
The United States is the primary supporter of its development; however, NATO and other U.S. allies, including the United Kingdom, Norway, Denmark, Italy, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, and former ally Turkey, contribute significantly to its funding.
The effort has been heavily criticized because of its enormous magnitude, complexity, rising prices, and lengthy delivery delays. Making many planes simultaneously resulted in costly design adjustments and fixes while still being built and tested.
The United States Marine Corps (USMC) was the first military branch to receive the F-35B in July 2015, followed by the United States Air Force (USAF) in August 2016 and the United States Navy in February 2019. The Israeli Air Force was the first to fly the F-35 in actual combat scenarios in 2018.
The F-35 has an unbeatable edge in combat because it has an asymmetrical advantage in many different operational domains.
The F-35 is made to be flexible, so pilots can face any threat in any situation. It is the best of the modern multirole fighters in terms of killing power, ability to stay alive, and networking.
F-22 vs. F-35 : Why American Pilots Prefer the F35 II Lightning Over the F22
Aviators from the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps concur that the F-35 is a superior, although imperfect, multirole combat aircraft compared to its predecessor, the F-22.
Technology plays a significant role in this mainly because The F-35 is a more recent aircraft than the F-22. It entered service 12 years later than the F-22.
Compared to the F-22, which extensively uses technology developed in the 1980s and 1990s, the F-35 uses technology developed in more recent decades. This is something that fighter pilots, who are typically well-versed in the sophistication of aviation technology, have pointed out.
Several technological advancements made by the F-22 since 2005 can be explained by this. Design-wise and structurally, the F-35 outperforms its predecessor, the F-22. The F-35 is a fighter bomber that is more economical, more effective technologically, and simpler to maintain.
The requirement for ground-based air support has grown, even though intelligent bombs (especially those equipped with GPS) have become more economical, effective, and reliable in recent years.
The F-22 is exclusively capable of aerial warfare. Despite the well-reported efforts to equip F-22s with the capacity to attack ground targets, the F-22 has not yet been employed in combat.
Because of the revolution brought on by smart bombs, the United States Air Force is no longer in need of the F-22 fighter jet because other, less expensive planes can perform the job just as effectively. Consequently, the F-35 is enjoying greater favor than the F-22 among fighter pilots.
The three versions of this plane add some attractive aspects to it, like the F-35B is the version that can take off vertically, has a range of 800kms, and can carry six tonnes of weapons.
F-35A has the lowest price amongst the three versions of the planes, costing around 154$ million, while the Navy version, the F-35C, has a price of 200$ million each, the same as the F-35B. The landing gear on this version is made stronger so it can handle landing on a carrier, and its parts are protected from seawater corrosion.
By law, the United States can’t sell F-22 jets to any country, even an ally. Australians, Japanese, and Israelis wanted to get their hands on some. No one has been able to change the law.
In the past, similar restrictions on exporting the F-16 were put in place, but they were eventually removed. The measure was passed because of worries that a hostile country could use classified information to build more than 200 F-22s.
Several different countries’ air forces would like the F-22 because it is better than many aircraft currently available.
To counter the F-22’s overwhelming advantage due to its speed, sophisticated electronics, and stealth technology, F-15s are often matched against as many as six F-22s during training. The F-35 may have slightly lower performance, but it still gets all the export orders. One reason is that it costs a lot less than F-22s.
Also Read:
The F-35A and F-35B What’s the difference between these stealth fighters?
F-22 vs. F-35 : F35 Lightening II and F22 Raptor Price
It costs $200 million to buy one F-22 Raptor (without considering the vast R&D costs). Up to 50% less money can be spent on an F-35 (although that edge is eroding). That’s why Washington is actively promoting F-35 sales abroad. Because of this, significantly more F-16s than F-15s were shipped abroad.
The F-35 will be more advanced than the F-15E and the Eurofighter but not more advanced than the F-22. The United States Air Force wants the F-22 to be part of a high-end/low-end mix with the F-35, similar to how the F-15 and F-16 were in the 1990s. However, combining the F-22 and the F-35 will be more challenging to detect and fight against.
F-22 production started in the 1980s, the first flight occurred in 1997, and the plane first saw active duty in 2005. The F-22 will likely continue in service until at least 2030.
F-22 vs. F-35 Dogfight and BVR: Can F-35 win a dogfight or BVR combat
As a highly agile fighter with a low SSKP (single shot kill probability) against long-range BVR, the F-22 will easily defeat the F-35 in a dogfight and BVR combat. In a drill in Norway, the F-22 beat the F-35 in a dogfight and BVR combat.
The F-22 can’t use all of its functions for security concerns despite beating the F35. Many people said the findings were secret, but they weren’t because if the F-35 had beaten the F-22, it would have set off alarm bells at the Pentagon.
F-22 vs. F-35 stealth or Radar cross section (RCS)
The U.S. Air Force has published information about how well the F-22 works. The F-22’s ability to stay out of sight has proven to be better than planned. From a radar point of view, the F-22’s radar cross section (RCS) is about the size of a steel pebble.
As its name suggests, the F-35’s radar cross section (RCS) is fashioned like a steel golf ball. The actual range of the AESA radar is closer to 210 kilometers than the officially claimed range of 200 kilometers.
The F-22’s AESA radar allows it to detect an enemy plane using its radar from up to 300 kilometers away. This gives the F-22 additional time to get into a shooting position before the enemy fighter can respond.
In terms of Size, The F-22 Raptor is greater than the F-35 Lightning in every way: height, weight, wing span, wing area, and weight.
Top speed
In terms of top-end speed, the F-35 has no equals. That’s not its intended function, unfortunately. The F-35 is not a hypersonic aircraft despite its designation.
When compared to the F-22, which can achieve speeds of around 2.0 Mach, the F-35 can only attain speeds of approximately 1.70 Mach and is less maneuverable in dogfights. The F-22 can climb at a pace of 62,000 feet per minute, while the F-35 can only achieve a rate of 45,000 feet per minute.
F-22 vs. F-35 vs. B-2 Bombers
Though the F-22 and F-35 are both 5th generation jets with good stealth characteristics, they are not all band stealth like B2 bombers and are detectable in VHF SPECTRUM, unlike B2 bombers.
B2 Bombers are invisible even in the VHF range. However, all band stealth is highly expensive. Hence, B2 bombers cost around $1 billion.
So, B2 BOMBER IS STILL THE KING OF STEALTH?
Russia says that its NEBO AESA VHF high-power radars can find stealth planes like the F-22 and F-35 at 500-1000 km distances.
However, the stealthiness of the F-22 and F-35, as well as modern avionics and sensors, make them challenging to track at such a distance.
The S-400 uses multiple frequency bands to track and shoot at its target. This can leave gaps in radar coverage that the more modern F-35 and F-22 can easily take advantage of.
Since the F-35 has better sensors and electronics than the F-22, it has a better chance of getting away from the S-400 Triumf.
