RTX Raytheon wins billion-dollar contract for F-22 sensors.

The US Air Force has signed a contract with RTX Raytheon to upgrade the sensors on the F-22 Raptor aircraft at a cost of one billion dollars. Having reached mid-life, the F-22 must be modernized to remain fully operational. This process is driven by operational necessity, as the F-22 complements aging F-16s and ground attack aircraft, remaining operational and widely used.
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F-22 Raptor Demonstration Team performs during the Battle Creek Field of Flight Air Show and Balloon Festival in Battle Creek, Mich., July 5, 2021.(Picture source: US Air force)

The sensor upgrade is part of a broader mission to improve the F-22 that will require investments of $7.8 billion by 2030. The sensor upgrades are designed to extend the lifespan of the F-22. The modernization roadmap for the stealth fighter will also include enhanced connectivity and weapons, new cryptography, an extended open architecture, and an advanced threat alert receiver to make the aircraft more capable of operating for additional years, particularly in the Indo-Pacific command area.

In total, 32 of the older F-22 Block 20 aircraft of the US Air Force are being retired, but the remaining 154 have been scheduled for the upgrade plan. The new sensors will be part of a rapid prototyping and commissioning process that, hopefully, will be applied to the next generation of air dominance systems (NGAD) family.

US Air Force Brigadier General Jason Voorheis, who is responsible for the fighter and advanced aircraft program, explained: "The Raptor team recently conducted six flight tests to demonstrate and evaluate the F-22's advanced sensors necessary to complete ongoing MTA rapid prototyping for the program."

MTA stands for Middle Tier of Acquisition and is another way of saying that the sensors would be rapidly prototyped and deployed. The exact content of the RTX Raytheon contract remains unclear as of the announcement date, although new Infrared Search and Track (IRST) sensors for the F-22 were confirmed in the program's 2025 budget request. Such IRST sensors represent an upgrade that the F-22 was initially supposed to carry but had initially been removed from its specification for budgetary reasons.

The use of the F-22 Raptor in the US armed forces highlights its advanced capabilities in aerial combat and stealth technology. Primarily designed as an air superiority fighter, the F-22 also excels in roles such as ground attack, electronic warfare, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR).

Developed by Lockheed Martin, the F-22 is crucial for maintaining US air supremacy thanks to its stealth technology, which makes it less visible to enemy radars, its advanced sensors that allow it to detect targets at great distances, and its unmatched agility in aerial combat. The F-22 is equipped with AIM-120 AMRAAM and AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, as well as GPS-guided bombs. This enables it to conduct precision strikes while remaining out of reach of adversary defenses.

Despite its exceptional capabilities, the F-22 has faced challenges, including high maintenance costs and initial limitations on the number of aircraft produced. The program was officially closed in 2011 after the production of 187 aircraft, due to these high costs and a shift in strategic priorities towards theaters of operation where less specialized and more versatile aircraft like the F-35 might be more suitable.