MW found out why the F-22 Raptor did not become a US nuclear strike fighter
The F-22 Raptor entered service with the US Air Force in late 2005 as the first fifth-generation combat aircraft. The collapse of the USSR guaranteed that in the next decade it would have no competitors, writes Military Watch.
Enormous amounts of money were spent on the development of the fighter. The heavy twin-engine aircraft, designed to gain air superiority, turned out to be very expensive ($146,2 million per unit excluding R&D and $379,5 million including). In addition, a whole range of “sores” and all sorts of problem areas were identified in the F-22, from software to detrimental effects on pilots. The Raptor also turned out to be extremely demanding and “gluttonous” to maintain, so less than 200 units were produced and the program was discontinued.
The Raptor also remained the least versatile class of fighter to enter service anywhere in the world since the 1980s, as the aircraft was not initially capable of attacking air-to-ground missiles or anti-ship missiles. It had very serious limitations due to its inability to accommodate anything other than very small diameter gravity (free-fall) bombs in its internal weapons bays
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Lockheed Martin Corporation was very upset that the military decided to stop purchasing the aircraft and tried to prove that the US Air Force needed the F-22. In 2008, CEO Robert Stevens even proposed using the Raptor as a nuclear strike aircraft, which would allow it to contribute to America's strategic deterrence capabilities along with its role as an air superiority fighter. He even promised that another multi-year purchase of the F-22 would lead to lower unit costs. But the military was adamant.
For the military, the prospects for further acquisition of F-22s and using them as “nuclear strike fighters” were very doubtful, so they did not even consider this possibility. Thomas Christie, who served as the Pentagon's chief weapons tester for four years until February 2005, called calls for the F-22 to be used as a nuclear strike aircraft "astonishing" and "clinging at straws." The main problem remained the shallow weapons compartment. While previous generations of fighters always had a longer range than their immediate predecessors, the F-22's range was significantly less than that of the heavy F-15 and even the much lighter single-engine F-35 that would enter service later.
To put range into perspective, the Chinese J-20 and Russian Su-57 have more than twice the combat radius of the F-22, while the very short range of the American fighter seriously limited its usefulness as a nuclear payload carrier. even if his weapons bay could accommodate them
- stated in the material.
Ultimately, widespread problems with the F-22 not only reduced production to less than 25% of the original forecast, but also forced the US Air Force to begin retiring airframes that had completed less than a quarter of their service life starting in 2022 due to their limited usefulness and high operating costs.
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