The F-22 Raptor fighter was deemed unnecessary 'due to the wrong timing.'
The fifth-generation F-22 Raptor fighter is capable of effectively ensuring air superiority; however, its arrival at the wrong time rendered the aircraft unnecessary. The program's failure was justified in a publication by The National Interest (NI).
Commissioned in 2005, the F-22 became the first fifth-generation fighter to be put into service. However, as the publication notes, production of the 'deadliest aircraft in the U.S.' was halted as early as 2011.
According to the author, the F-22 was both ahead of its time and lagging in adapting to a changing world. The stealthy fighter proved unnecessary for combat against poorly armed adversaries in Iraq or Afghanistan. As a result, the U.S. produced 187 aircraft instead of the originally planned 750.
Evidence of the F-22's redundancy was the lack of serious combat experience. In 2014, the Raptor was used for the first time to strike targets in Syria. 'Its first air-to-air engagement occurred nearly ten years later, when in February 2023, the Raptor shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon off the east coast of the United States,' the article states.
In September, it became known that Lockheed Martin wanted to upgrade the older Block 20 version F-22 fighters used for pilot training.
