Intended to be the leading American advanced tactical fighter in the early part of the 21st century, the Raptor is the world's most expensive fighter to date costing about $120 million per unit, or $361 million per unit when development costs are added. Part of the reason for the decrease in the requirement is that the F-35 Lightning II uses much of the technology used on the F-22, but at a much more affordable price. To a large extent the cost of these technologies is only lower for the F-35 because they have already been developed for the F-22. Had the F-22 not been developed, the costs of these technologies for the F-35 would have been significantly higher.

Next generation technology abound in the Raptor. For starters, the F-22's dual Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 turbofan engines with afterburners incorporate thrust vectoring. Thrust vectoring is in the pitch axis only, with a range of 20 degrees. The maximum thrust is classified, though most sources place it at about 35,000 lbf (156 kN). Maximum speed is estimated to be Mach 1.72 in supercruise mode and without external weapons; with afterburners, it is - greater than Mach 2.0 - (2120 km/h), according to Lockheed Martin. The Raptor can easily exceed its design speed limits, particularly at low altitudes; max-speed alerts help prevent the pilot from exceeding the limits. Gen. John P. Jumper, U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff, September 6th, 2001 to September 2nd, 2005, flew the Raptor faster than Mach 1.7 without afterburners on January 13th, 2005. The absence of variable intake ramps may make speeds greater than Mach 2.0 unreachable, but there is no evidence to prove this. Such ramps would be used to prevent engine surge, but the intake itself may be designed to prevent this. Former Lockheed Raptor chief test pilot Paul Metz says the Raptor has a fixed inlet. Paul Metz has also stated that the F-22 has a top speed greater than 1600 mph (Mach 2.42) and its climb rate is faster than the F-15 Eagle. This is because the F-22 is one of the few fighter aircraft with a thrust to weight ratio significantly greater than 1:1.

The true top-speed of the F-22 is largely unknown, as engine power is only one factor. The ability of the airframe to withstand the stress and heat from friction is a key factor, especially in an aircraft using as many polymers as the F-22. However, while some aircraft are faster on paper, the internal carriage of its standard combat load allows the aircraft to reach comparatively higher performance with a heavy load over other modern aircraft due to its lack of drag from external stores. It is one of a handful of aircraft that can sustain supersonic flight without the use of afterburner augmented thrust. The fuel usage from using afterburners would have greatly reduces its flight time.

The F-22 is highly maneuverable, at both supersonic and subsonic speeds. The usage of the F-22's thrust vectoring nozzles allows the aircraft to turn tightly, and perform extremely high alpha maneuvers such as Pugachev's Cobra and the Kulbit. The F-22 is also capable of maintaining a constant angle of attack of over 60 degrees.

Avionics include Raytheon and Northrop Grumman AN/APG-77 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, possibly the most capable radar in active service, with both long-range target acquisition and low probability of interception of its own signals by enemy aircraft.

This particular 1:72 scale replica of a US F-22 Raptor air superiority fighter was attached to the 411th Flight Test Squadron, 412th Operations Group, then deployed to Edwards AFB, California during 2022 Comes with a pair of Low Drag Tank and Pylon (LDTP) pods. Pre-order! Ship Date: February 2025.

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 7-1/2-inches
Length: 10-1/4-inches

Release Date: ?

Historical Account: "Stealth Pods" - The Raptor's new stores are set to unlock new capabilities, some of them long in the making. This includes fielding a highly capable infrared search and track (IRST) system, a feature originally planned for the F-22, but was cut due to budget concerns decades ago.

The War Zone was the first to report on the transformation the F-22 Raptor is about to go through as it transitions to the back half of its career. A few months after publishing that article and an additional report, a concept image of the F-22's new external stores configuration emerged out of the Pentagon.

As it sits now, the fleet of roughly 180 F-22s will be replaced by the crewed Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) aircraft, of which the USAF wants to buy 200. The Raptors are now serving as something of an incubator for NGAD technologies. Features developed under the broad NGAD initiative can also make it to the F-22 before the NGAD tactical jet is ready for prime time. Until the F-22 finally bows out, supposedly in the coming decade, the world's most deadly air-to-air fighter will need to be more capable than ever in order to confront emerging threats, which are numerous and growing rapidly.

The fact that the F-22 is still as feared as it is, considering it was designed in the 1980s and refined in the 1990s before beginning its relatively short production run in the new millennium, is a testament to its design. However, the vast distances that come into play operations in the Pacific theater, paired with the Raptor's notoriously short range, as well as growing adversary air defense capabilities, prompted the advent of new low observable fuel tanks. These faceted tanks are not only stealthy, they can be punched off the jet in a way that it can regain its full performance without having a major impact on the plane's radar cross-section. Just like the F-22's existing non-stealthy 600-gallon tanks, the pylon will likely go with them when jettisoned, but how exactly the jet's signature is better restored after they are dropped remains a trade secret.