Why can’t the F-22 Raptor land on an aircraft carrier?

The F-22 Raptor rocked the aviation world when it first took to the skies in 1997. Widely considered the world’s first fifth-generation fighter, the F-22 became a cornerstone of the USAF’s fighter fleet and saw action in defense of the homeland for the first time during Operation Noble Eagle. It continued to carry out missions against the Islamic State and Assad forces in Syria. It has become the answer to most questions about air superiority.

However, the US military is already planning a successor through the Next Generation Air Dominance Fighter program, which will deliver a sixth-generation fighter with better systems than the F-22. With his planned retirement, one feat remains out of Raptor’s reach. Land and take off from the aircraft carrier.

Why aren’t Raptors carriers competent?

You will never see Raptor land on an aircraft carrier for two reasons. The first is the person behind the sticks. USAF aviators are typically not trained in the techniques necessary to abort carrier landings. Exchange programs exist between Navy and Air Force pilots, but most do not experience them.

The second is the simple physics that separates US Navy and USAF aircraft. Navy planes are much lighter, allowing them to descend quickly in low pressure without collapsing their landing gear. Their light weight also means they can take off over very short distances.

The F-22, on the other hand, is a hefty piece of kit. It weighs approximately 45,000 lb (20,400 kg) compared to the U.S. Navy’s F/A-18E/F’s empty weight of 32,081 lb (14,552 kg). Even if you can descend to a low approach speed of 100 knots, the landing gear will not be able to take power. With the landing gear collapsing, the aircraft could run off the edge of the carrier, drowning the pilot and causing severe damage to the carrier deck.

F-22 Raptor development

In addition to the brutal reality of physics that meant the F-22 couldn’t land on a carrier, there’s also the fact that the Raptor was never intended to have naval capabilities when it was developed. It was developed in the 1981 Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program intended to replace the F-15 Eagle. The F-15 never flew from the carrier and was shelved before the F-15N Sea Eagle program became a reality.

The ATF program was born out of intelligence reports from the Soviet Union. They said the F-15 and F-16 Fighting Falcons were effective against new Soviet systems, including surface-to-air missiles in the integrated air defense network and the Beriev A-50 workhorse aircraft, which served as airborne warning and control. It has become clear that it is not. system (AWACS). The United States also needed aircraft to keep up with the Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker and Mikoyan Mig-29 fulcrum fighters.

The USAF began searching for aircraft capable of responding to these threats. They first contacted the aerospace industry in May 1981 and finally published a request for proposal (RFP) in September 1985. The USAF emphasized the importance of stealth, ultrasonic cruise, and maneuverability.

From the initial competition between seven companies, Lockheed (Team with Boeing and General Dynamics) and Northrop (Team with McDonnell Douglas) emerged as favorites.

Lockheed has begun a development program to ensure that the Raptor is not carrier capable. They developed the Raptor’s iconic diamond-shaped delta wing in the summer of 1987. This is great for high speed flight and maneuvering, but has poor performance at low speeds. They also quickly discovered that meeting all of the USAF’s demands would increase the aircraft’s weight, requiring a more powerful (and heavier) powerplant.

On September 29, 1990, the YF-22 (a test variant of the Raptor) made its maiden flight. Subsequent test flights demonstrated supercruise, high-G maneuvers, and the firing of air-to-air missiles. In 1991, the USAF announced that it had selected Lockheed’s prototype. Although slower and less stealthy, the YF-22 had a thrust-vectored nozzle, making it more maneuverable and cheaper, and it flew far more test sorties.

With USAF approval, Lockheed began building the F-22. They built an airframe designed for an 8,000-hour service life and further refined the design with 17,000 hours of wind tunnel testing. The finishing touches were made with electronic warfare, communications, and navigation systems using 1.7 million lines of code.

F-22 Raptor characteristics

When F-22 procurement was almost cancelled.

The USAF originally foresaw acquiring 750 aircraft developed through the ATF program in service entry in the mid-to-late 1990s. However, such a large number was not needed after the 1990s were born, as the Soviet Union declined and eventually collapsed. Production decreased to 339 in 1997 and was nearly stopped by Congress in 1999. We will not discuss the naval potential of the Raptor today if the F-22 program is canceled.

Further challenges to the Raptor program came with the era of counterinsurgency wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This new battlefield had no need for expensive stealth aircraft, as anti-aircraft threats were inadequate. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld cut procurement to 183. When the F-22 procurement was finally concluded, 195 F-22s were built.

The scale of the F-22 program is also limited by an export ban that has been in place since 1998. The Department of Defense is anxious to protect the secrets of Raptor stealth technology. US fighter customers currently receive the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon. Some customers, such as Israel, are procuring the F-35 Lightning II. The F-35 includes some F-22 technology but is designed to be cheaper and exportable.

Can the Raptor be modified for carrier landing?

Probably, but it will lose most of the strength that led it to become one of the main forces of the USAF. The required changes would destroy stealth capabilities and significantly increase operational and maintenance costs. The economic and engineering reality was that it was much cheaper and simpler for the US Navy to use its own aircraft than to develop a Raptor variant.

One engineering solution is to replace the fixed wing with a variable sweep wing design. This allows pilots to adjust the aggressive swept-back wings, an iconic part of the F-22S profile, to approximate the Super Hornet’s straight wings on landing.

US Navy Birds of Prey Replacement

With the “Sea Raptor” concept out of the question, the US Navy needed an equivalent to a fifth-generation fighter that could land on carriers. Twenty-four years after the USAF first received the Raptor, the F-35C Lightning II came to the US Navy intended to replace the Hornet.

The F-35C is a variant of Lockheed Martin’s carrier-based Lightning designed to replace the Hornet. It is designed for catapult-assisted takeoff and barrier arrest recovery landing (Catobar). This aircraft also has large wings and control surfaces for greater low-speed control during landing. These wings fold up when the aircraft lands, making the F-35C compatible with limited space onboard carriers.

The F-35C also addresses the main problem with landing the F-22 Raptor on a carrier, which is that the landing gear cannot be affected by a carrier landing. The standard F-35 is heavier than the F-22 at 49,540 lb (13,290 kg). To solve this problem, the F-25C had reinforced landing gear and twin-wheel nose equipment. The modification is complete with a robust tailhook, essential for naval aircraft.

These changes are essential to ensure the F-35C is carrier-ready. However, they resulted in a performance loss. The standard F-35 can withstand 9.0 g in maneuvers, while the F-35C is limited to 7.5 g.

Is the Raptor replacement carrier compatible?

The Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program debuted in 2014. This program was for the “family of systems” to replace the Raptor with a 6th generation fighter at its core. They initially expected the new fighter jets to be dispatched in the 2030s.

As reported in July 2024, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall announced that the NGAD program’s aircrews had been suspended. He said, “With the platform itself, we’re pausing. We’re moving forward as quickly as possible as we have the remaining elements of the air-dominated family of systems.”

It is impossible to know whether there will be carrier compatibility until the USAF determines the characteristics it will ask manufacturers to develop in the 6th generation fighter program. However, it should be noted that the Navy has a distinct program, the F/A-XX, which is a carrier-ready sixth-generation fighter program. There is no need for the USAF’s next fighter to be carrier compatible.