What does it take to keep a fighter airplane the world’s best air dominance platform, as sixth-generation replacements falter? The secret, as opened by the F-22 Raptor’s far-reaching modernization, is an ongoing integration of sensor innovation, software development, and a bold foray into manned-unmanned teaming.
1. Sensor Suite Overhaul: Eyes for the 21st Century Battlespace
The F-22 sensor architecture is undergoing its most radical transformation since the aircraft’s inception. Underlying the whole redesign is the Infrared Defensive System (IRDS), a system of embedded infrared search and track sensors on stations all over the airplane that replace aging missile launch detectors. The system, enabled by a $270 million contract with Lockheed Martin, will detect and track long-range surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles, a necessary defense as threats from adversaries like China and Russia grow more sophisticated. The IRDS employs passive sensing, giving the Raptor “eyes” immune to jamming and able to detect stealthy or low-signature threats at a distance, similar to the F-35’s 360-degree Distributed Aperture System. The FY2026 budget allocates $90 million to push IRDS to fleetwide production by 2028–2029, providing an earlier warning and greater survivability for many years to come. Podded Infrared Search and Track (IRST) sensors, offered under a $1 billion Raytheon contract, will equip 142 Block 30/35 Raptors.
The pods, produced in an initial run of 30 systems, enable the “first look, first shot, first kill” doctrine by passively detecting enemy aircraft without revealing the F-22’s position. Dynamic synthetic aperture radar (SAR) integration also provides high-resolution ground maps, enabling pilots to accurately geolocate the threat. These capabilities are founded on a Modular Open Systems Approach, enabling future sensor developments to be deployed rapidly as emerging threats materialize.
2. Software: The Digital Backbone of Lethality
Referred to as “flying computer chips,” the F-22’s hidden advantage comes out with software. The Increment 3.2B, recently introduced in combat-coded planes, brings with it high-resolution SAR mapping, geolocation of targets, advanced electronic attack (EA) capabilities, and integration with upcoming ordnance such as the AIM-120D, AIM-9X, and Small Diameter Bomb I. These software enhancements also reach the AIM-120 AMRAAM, boosting guidance processing and flying hours for enhanced air dominance.
The Air Force employs the agile development cycle, which allows rapid iteration and deployment of those improvements, in some instances taking technology from the suspended sixth-generation F-47 program. An upcoming fleet-wide software update will release additional thrust in specific flight regimes, while predictive maintenance software from Pratt & Whitney is designed to extend engine life and reduce operations costs. Cybersecurity and pilot-vehicle interface advancements, like the Thales Scorpion Helmet Mounted Display, also continue to advance pilot workload and situational awareness.
3. Communications and Networking: Bridging Generations
To facilitate seamless integration into coalition and joint missions, the F-22 is being substantially modified for communications. Adding Link 16 capability through the Multifunctional Information Distribution System/Joint Tactical Radio System (MIDS/JTRS) provides two-way networking engagement with fourth-generation aircraft, a historic limitation of the Raptor. These are supplemented by improved Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) and cryptography enhancements to ensure secure, trusted data transfer within contested environments.
4. Collaborative Combat Aircraft: Loyal Wingman Revolution
Perhaps the most revolutionary shift is the F-22’s new role as an airborne command node for Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), or “loyal wingman” unmanned drones. Beginning early in 2026, all 142 combat-configured Raptors will be fitted with ruggedized tablets and cabling at a unit cost of $86,218 to enable real-time control of autonomous drones over the secure Inter-Flight Data Link. Lockheed Martin previously demonstrated a cockpit interface that enables pilots to operate a number of drones using a touchscreen, setting the stage for certification and integration through software patches. The CCA program is not an experiment but a cornerstone of the Air Force’s future force structure.
The service hopes to have over 1,000 CCAs online by the end of the decade, and the first batch of Increment 1 drones, namely General Atomics’ YFQ-42A and Anduril’s YFQ-44A, are already in the works. They are all of next-generation AI and autonomy, and they’re capable of performing a range of missions: from electronic warfare and surveillance to decoying or precision strikes. As demonstrated by the recent DARPA AlphaDogfight tests, AI systems are increasingly difficult to counter by human pilots in combat scenarios-altogether a revolution in aerial combat.
5. Engineering the Manned-Unmanned Team: Architecture and Autonomy
The baseline of loyal wingman unmanned systems integration with the F-22 is open, modular autonomy architectures. The Skyborg program of the Air Force, for example, has resulted in a universal core autonomy control software that can make low-cost, mission-configurable drones combat-capable side by side with manned fighters. These technologies leverage secure, low-latency data links and sophisticated artificial intelligence to deliver swarming tactics, real-time sensor fusion, and cooperative targeting. The XQ-58A Valkyrie has already demonstrated the ability for successful data transfer between F-22 and F-35, and it suggests a not-too-distant future where manned and unmanned aircraft are an integrated, responsive force. But as John Clark of Skunk Works suggested, “There’s a lot of opinions amongst the Air Force about the right way to go [about controlling drones from other aircraft]. The general sentiment, however, is that this [a tablet or other touch-based interface] could be the quickest means of getting started with experimentation. It might not be the ultimate destination.” The same view is held by developers and operators, who are working on adjusting human-machine interfaces so that pilots are not overwhelmed during high-tempo combat operations.
6. The F-47 and Sixth-Generation Slippage: Why the Raptor Continues to Be Indispensable
While the F-47 America’s long-sought sixth-generation fighter promises “unprecedented advances in speed, stealth, and autonomy,” its development has been marked by engine slippage of more than two years and budget troubles. The Next Generation Adaptive Propulsion (NGAP) program, under which the F-47’s engines are being created now targets readiness as soon as 2030, with significant funding cuts marking a shift from design to assembling prototypes. As President Trump claimed, “Nothing in the world comes even close to it, and it’ll be known as the F-47.” But the reality is that the F-22 remains the tip of the spear, bridging the gap until sixth-generation capabilities are delivered at scale.
7. Operational Impact and Future Trajectory
The Raptor’s modernization is not a fantasy. In 2025, F-22s played a leading role in Operation Midnight Hammer, escorting B-2 bombers and maintaining air superiority for high-risk missions against Iranian nuclear facilities. Their advanced sensors and networking technology enabled them to follow and destroy drones and cruise missiles across the Middle East, rotational deployments in the Pacific and Europe, demonstrating their value as an instant response weapon.
With Congress delaying retirement of older Block 20 F-22s and over $7.8 billion spent through 2030, the Air Force is now signaling plans to maintain the Raptor fleet in service well into the 2040s. As one congressional aide stated, “They’re still the best air superiority jets we have in the world today.” The F-22’s creation, rooted in technical discipline, digital agility, and a bold embrace of autonomy, is a case study of the means by which back-end platforms can overwhelm even their most visionary replacements.
