Finally, radiation absorbent materials and a stealthy airframe design – featuring leading edges of the wings and horizontal tails set at the same angle – that make the F-22 still the hardest combat jet to track on radar. Integrated avionics fuse data from the Northrop Grumman APG-77 radar and BAE Systems ALR-74 electronic warfare suite on to a common display, including inputs from the same sensors on other F-22s via the intraflight data link. Powerful Pratt & Whitney F119 engines can vector jet exhaust in the pitch axis and take it to Mach 1.5 without afterburners for more range. Still, no aircraft in production or development yet combines the three capabilities that make the F-22 stand out.
Meanwhile, in Germany, India, Japan, South Korea and Turkey fifth-generation fighters are moving from drawing boards into early development stages. In 2011, China finally revealed the AVIC Chengdu J-20, with a nose and engine inlets resembling the Raptor’s. Russia unveiled the less stealthy but super-agile Sukhoi Su-57 – formerly identified as the T-50 – in 2010, featuring internal weapons bays and a multi-axis thrust vectoring system. Nothing in the air seemed remotely comparable when the F-22 first flew over Marietta, Georgia, two decades ago, but the Raptor quickly inspired imitators. Remarkably, the F-22 dominates despite some startling gaps in its arsenal which are only now being addressed as the US Air Force looks to keep it relevant beyond 2060. Twenty years after the first flight of a production aircraft on 7 September 1997, the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor remains unchallenged as the world’s top air superiority fighter. Decade of Airline Excellence Awards 2020.