An F-22 Raptor aircraft performs a high-speed bank at the Marine Corps Community Services-sponsored annual air show Oct. 3, 2008, at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, San Diego. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Dan T. Le/Released)
The U.S. Air Force F-22 fleet was prematurely truncated around 169 aircraft following the collapse of the Soviet Union
(Washington D.C.) The U.S. Air Force F-22 fleet was prematurely truncated around 169 aircraft following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. The decision was in retrospect regarded as ill-advised and detrimental to the U.S. Air Force’s ability to maintain its edge over great power rivals such as Russia and China. Perhaps decision-makers at the time were distracted by counterinsurgency and operated with only a short-term threat calculus. After all, while built in the 1990s, the F-22 was first introduced in 2005 during the height of the ground wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Circling the Fleet
The size of the fleet, however, is merely one of several reasons why even the older F-22s should not be retired. An ability to “mass” F-22s for their well-known “first-strike, first-kill” mission mantra would be compromised should the fleet be greatly reduced. However, continued service life for the F-22 would be much less relevant if the aircraft did not retain or expand upon its combat performance abilities.
While often thought of by pilots as an “aerial quarterback,” air-to-air supremacy fighter with an optimal thrust-to-weight ratio and the most maneuverable air-combat fighter in existence, the F-22 has in more recent years shown its versatility by successfully performing Close Air Support attack missions against ISIS in 2014. This 2014 deployment was in fact the F-22’s first combat deployment.
