The complete shutdown of the Lockheed Martin production line for the serial production of the 5th generation F-22A Raptor multipurpose stealth fighters in 2008 was a real strategic failure for both the US Department of Defense and Washington as a whole. The decision to halt production significantly limited the individual capabilities of the US Air Force, as well as the NATO Air Force in achieving "total" air superiority in the most important conventional theaters of operations of the North Atlantic Alliance - European and Far Eastern, as well as in the skies of Southeast Asia. The insufficient number of Raptors produced (187 aircraft) does not allow the American Air Force to distribute numerous air regiments of these fighters in Western Asia, Asia-Pacific and Europe, since the airspace of the entire North American continent will lose the protection of the 5th generation air defense aviation. Despite the fact that the US Air Force is armed with hundreds and thousands of F-15C / E, F-16C of the latest modifications, Washington knows that this aircraft fleet will not be able to oppose the enemy with what the Raptors are capable of. So there was talk in the US House of Representatives about restarting the production of these aircraft.
Since mid-April 2016, the Congressional Armed Services Subcommittee has raised the cost of re-launching the production line of the F-22A, and has also allowed the creation of an export version of the 5th generation fighter. The export of these machines was canceled by a ban that came into force in 1998 to prevent the "leak" of secret technologies to the enemy. But in the XXI century, when our engineering thought caught up with, and even began to outstrip the vaunted F-22A in terms of airborne radar systems, electronic warfare systems, maneuverability, range (especially pronounced in the T-50 PAK-FA, Su-35S), the issue of export again began to have a certain meaning. The importance of increasing the number of Raptors in the Air Force was repeatedly reminded by the Chief of Staff of the US Air Force, General Michael Moseley, who, after the decision to stop the series, resigned in protest.
According to the RAND Research Center, with reference to an Air Force spokesman, the restoration of the Raptor production will cost the American treasury a pretty penny: $ 2 billion is needed only to restore all elements of production, plus another $ 17.5 billion will be required to produce new 75 machines … The fact is that the higher price ($ 233 million per unit) will be determined not only by the current economic situation, but also by the need to introduce improved avionics into new fighters. It is reported that the integration of the new element base will be carried out at the expense of the hardware and software of the F-35A fighters, which will allow the F-22A, in addition to the AN / APG-77 radar, the most powerful among American fighters, to receive the corresponding network-centric capabilities regarding the speed of tactical exchange. information with other types of fighters, surface ships, AWACS aircraft, air defense systems, etc.
A very important fact is that of the 185 currently available F-22A, 149 belong to the Block 30/35 modification. A feature of this version is a software add-on that allows you to use the mode of terrain mapping with a synthetic aperture, which allows you to obtain a radar image of photographic resolution. This made it possible to align with the F-35A in terms of air-to-ground and air-to-sea capabilities. Smaller than that of the F-35A, the radar signature (EPR 0.07 m2 versus 0.3 m2) will allow you to operate over areas with thicker air defense and, in LPI mode, get closer to enemy fighters, I do not identify the type of my own side.
The likelihood that Raptors will again enter serial production by 2020 remains quite high, since the aggregate pace of implementation of projects of generation 5 fighters T-50, J-20 and J-31 will eventually outstrip the program of fighters of questionable quality “JSF”, and the Americans will lose any opportunity to confront Russia and China in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
As for the states to which simplified versions of the F-22A can be transferred, as well as regions where improved American vehicles will be deployed, they will remain the same, but with some amendments.
In a more or less peaceful environment, the largest number of F-22A fighters will be based at air bases in Japan, Saudi Arabia and Western Europe (Great Britain and Germany). If a military conflict breaks out in one theater or another, the Raptors will try to move the allies into the strategic depth so as not to lose their promising F-22A over the enemy-controlled theater sector: the US Air Force will continue to keep the technology of new fighter units secret, and radar design AN / APG-77. In the APR, Australia will undoubtedly become such a remote base, where today the Americans are creating the largest militarized stronghold directed against the Celestial Empire, preparing the transfer of KC-10A Extender air tankers and B-1B strategic missile bombers. It is also likely that the Australian Air Force will be sold export F-22A, which will be able to "reach" any part of the Indo-Asia-Pacific region with the help of "Extenders".
"European Raptors" in the event of a conflict can be relocated exclusively to Great Britain or even further - to the Icelandic Keflavik airbase.
If the escalation level of tension hangs over the whole of Western Asia, American fighters can be deployed in Pakistan, or on the island - a military base in the Indian Ocean Diego Garcia. But neither option is convenient enough. Accommodation in Pakistan is not entirely secure, especially in view of the latter's longstanding territorial dispute with India. Diego Garcia is located more than 4,000 km from the Middle East, which requires a long time for the transfer of F-22A squadrons participating in the air operation. But the latter option looks more attractive.
The possibility of continuing the series of the best American fighters should by no means be ignored, just as their further deployment in the future cannot be ignored.
