With senior US Air Force (USAF) officials pausing to re-evaluate development of a sixth-generation fighter, defence contractors are eyeing potential modernisation opportunities for the current air superiority platform – the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor.
The service’s latest position is a notable reversal from only a year ago, when air force secretary Frank Kendall said the USAF hoped to select a prime contractor on the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) programme by the end of 2024.
That effort to develop a manned, sixth-generation fighter was meant to deliver a successor to the F-22. While the USAF has not settled on any definitive course of action, any delays to NGAD may necessitate extending the Raptor’s operating life beyond an earlier USAF plan, which called for the start of F-22 retirements in 2030.
The latest fiscal year 2025 budget documents call for the Raptor to provide homeland and cruise missile defence “into the 2040s”. That funding request outlines nearly $10 billion in spending over the next several years to pay for F-22 modernisation, including the aircraft’s weapons, communications, navigation, pilot-vehicle interface and electronic warfare suite.
While F-22 manufacturer Lockheed handles primary sustainment on the nearly 30-year old jet, including its notoriously sensitive stealth coating, other suppliers to the Raptor fleet see the potential service life extension as an opportunity to upgrade the jets, which were designed in the 1980s.
One of them is aerospace conglomerate RTX, whose subsidiaries supply the F-22’s Pratt & Whitney (P&W) F119 engines, Collins Aerospace ACES II ejection seat and air-to-air missiles that arm the jet.
“With the pause in Next Generation Air Dominance, it’s even more critical that we continue to partner with the air force to keep the engine ready, affordable and relevant,” said Caroline Cooper, executive director of F119 engines for P&W, on 10 September.
She spoke to FlightGlobal on 10 September during an RTX event highlighting F-22 modernisation initiatives.
While Cooper declines to reveal any specifics about what, if any, improvements the engine-maker is proposing to the air force, citing security concerns around the strategically important fighter, she says P&W has already been able to increase F119 performance in recent years by analysing flight data and maintenance practices.
“We were able to do [a] very significant software update to really exact greater kinetic performance out of the engine,” she explains. “We were able to deliver this update in less than the year, and from a taxpayer perspective, at no additional cost.”
The unique design of the F119 provides exceptional speed and aerodynamic manoeuvrability to the F-22. Each of the thrust-vectoring engines features an exhaust nozzle capable of rotating 20 degrees up or down, allowing for the F-22’s world-famous acrobatics.
The F119 also boasts the ability to operate supersonically without the use of a fuel-intensive after burner – a capability known as ”supercruise”. Because of these features, P&W describes the powerplant as the world’s first fifth-generation engine.
Cooper says the company is “moving ahead” with a number of F119 initiatives that will target improvements to readiness, affordability and relevance, with that last category being the “most important”, she notes.
Elsewhere within RTX, efforts are underway to improve the F-22’s arsenal. Munitions producer Raytheon is in the midst of upgrading its beyond-visual-range AIM-120 advanced medium-range air-to-air missile (AMRAAM), carried on 14 different fighter platforms across the world, including the F-22.
The latest AIM-120D-3 variant features improved range and increased resistance to enemy radar-jamming and countermeasures.
“It’s almost doubling the range of what AMRAAM flew before,” says Jon Norman, vice-president of defence systems requirements with Raytheon and a former USAF fighter pilot.
Notably, Raytheon has not changed the AMRAAM’s propulsion system to achieve the extra stand-off. Instead, the company has modified the missile’s flight profile for greater efficiency.
“We just changed the way it flies for long-range shots,” Norman says. “So it has more kinetic energy when it’s targeted at that range, and it’s able to fly that very effectively.”
Raytheon is also working with uncrewed aircraft developers General Atomics and Anduril to integrate the AMRAAM onto the experimental Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) prototypes those companies are developing for the USAF.
The pair were selected by the USAF in April to design and manufacture flightworthy CCA test articles – with the eventual goal being a small, low-cost, uncrewed jet that can provide combat support to conventional fighters.
In addition to improving the F-22’s propulsion and armament, Raytheon was also awarded a contract from the USAF on 3 September worth more than $1 billion to make unspecified upgrades to the stealthy jet’s onboard sensors.
Raytheon declined to comment on the contract, saying it has not yet been approved by the Pentagon to discuss the matter.
