The F-22 was the first fifth-generation fighter in the world, but the legacy stealth fighters’ fate is currently on the chopping block with the recent announcement of the upcoming sixth-generation F-47 fighter from 
Boeing.
No official information has been released, but reports from The War Zone indicate that Lockheed Martin is pushing the US Air Force to upgrade instead of retire its oldest F-22 Raptor models.
The Raptor’s Balancing Act
Lockheed Martin says that the retirement of the Block 20 Raptors will force the USAF to spend more on training and maintenance due to a smaller pool of available aircraft. The F-22 has notoriously cost far more than originally expected to sustain over its lifetime, but the high initial procurement cost and unrivaled technological capabilities it presents have secured its continued support.
The US Air Force is looking to divest 32 of its Block 20 generation F-22s, according to The War Zone. That represents just under 20% of the current fleet, which is 183-strong according to the USAF public webpage. The majority of the combat-ready airframes are Block 30 and 35, with the Block 20 jets primarily serving as training aircraft.
The F-22 is a more critical asset than ever before, with Russia’s Su-57 and China’s J-20 being more credible threats than anything else to date. The sixth-generation F-47 was awarded to Boeing by President Donald Trump this year, but it will take years for the first of the sixth-generation fighters to reach the fleet. The War Zone quoted the following excerpt from the Government Accountability Office on LM’s reasoning to upgrade instead of divest F-22s:
“Air Combat Command officials stated that combat units generally have a total of 24 Block 30/35 aircraft to ensure there are 12 mission capable aircraft at a given time, due to availability concerns such as maintenance. However, if the Air Force reallocated Block 30/35 aircraft to training units to account for the loss of Block 20 aircraft, Air Force documentation noted this could potentially result in combat units having as few as 18 total aircraft.”
The F-22 In 2025
Some of the mighty Raptor fleet may be nearing the sunset of their service lives, but that doesn’t mean the platform has lost its teeth at all. Just under a week ago, the F-22 scored the longest known hit using an AIM-120D AMRAAM, according to Air & Space Forces Magazine. The Beyond Visual Range missile is a mainstay of the F-22’s internally carried air-to-air missiles that make it a dominating air superiority fighter.
Currently ,there are only about two dozen Sukhoi Su-57 Felon stealth fighters believed to be in existence, according to the World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft WDMMA. That pales in comparison to the US Raptor fleet. However, on the far side of the Pacific Ocean, the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) of China could have as many as 210 stealth Chengdu J-20 Mighty Dragon fighters, per the WDMMA.
The threat of any stealth fighter in possession of a near-peer, hostile power makes the need for a fifth-generation fighter a clear and present requirement for the USAF. The high numbers of PLAAF J-20s combined with Russia’s force half the world away mean that the F-22 fleet has its work cut out in terms of deterrence and air policing. Taking away airframes would further stress the existing fleet ,which gives LM’s Skunk Works division a strong justification for its upgrade program.
Next Generation Air Dominance
The F-47 is will have advanced stealth tech, variable cycle engines, and bleeding-edge sensors. The NGAD will act as a command hub for Collaborative Combat Aircraft and enhance mission capability across the board. The aircraft will use advanced avionics, adaptive mission systems, and adaptive engines for outstanding performance, along with efficiency and reduced maintenance.
Air Force Chief of Staff General David W. Allvin announced during a keynote address on September 22 that the first F-47 is expected to arrive in 2028, as Air & Space Forces reported. The new fighter will supersede the F-22 as the USAF’s apex fighter platform, but until that day, the Raptor has no equal.
