The Legacy of the Raptor

"All I have to say is WOW! Even though I am a retired sailor, I have always been fascinated with fighter jets. Ever since the Viet Nam War, when the F-4 Phantom was the plane to be feared. Today, one can only wonder what is next."

An interesting thing happened on the way to replacing the F-15 and F-16 fighter jets. Lockheed won the award for the replacement plane - a new sexy thing called the F-22 Raptor. It was quite the plane, and the Air Force wanted to buy almost 400 of them. But after building about half of the almost 400 Raptors, the budget thing happened again. Too expensive, so pull the plug. Lockheed ended up building 195 Raptors, of which about 100 are still in service today.

But this first of the fifth-generation fighter, was something more than just another plane. It was very, very special. A true game changer. Today, after being in service for 20 years, it can still fly rings around most of the other planes in the sky. But wait - if this plane was so special, why not build more of them? Because - that train has left the station. Right now, Lockheed is working on the F-35 (which they are selling many of them), and the upcoming sixth-generation fighter.

But wait a minute! Is not the first of the sixth-generation fighters going to be built by Boeing? The new F-47 NGAD? Yes and no. The Raptor has been so good, so special, Lockheed is planning on making a Super F-22 Raptor going forward. Taking this fifth-generation fighter and making it look and act more like a sixth-generation fighter. And by using an existing airframe like the existing F-22, Lockheed feels they can sell this to the Air Force, much cheaper than the F-47 NGAD.

But that is not all that is going on in the minds of Lockheed. The F-35 Lightening has been so very successful for Lockheed, the idea of modifying it into a dual engine version of the F-35 with some sixth-generation features is gaining some traction. Even Donald Trump is interested. What? Is there a problem here? Could a F-35 with two engines (to be called the F-55) be even more lethal? Sure could. But money. Where will the money come from to have the growing assortment of planes in our inventory?

I have said this before. Right now, more than any other time, we have an embarrassment of riches in top quality fighter jets. Hands down truth. And I am not even counting the new SR-72 Darkstar, which could also be used in combat as well as spying. Plus, the aging F-15 has been given new life as the F-15EX Golden Eagle. This plane is now the most capable fourth-generation fighter in the world. So, we need to throw that plane into the mix also.

All I have to say is WOW! Even though I am a retired sailor, I have always been fascinated with fighter jets. Ever since the Viet Nam War, when the F-4 Phantom was the plane to be feared. Today, one can only wonder what is next.

Rumor has it however, when and if a seventh-generation fighter is introduced, it will be dual purposed. What does that mean? It will be able to be "air breathing" and also have the ability to fly in low Earth orbit. A space plane? Stay turned - that might be next in the offering.