The F-22 Raptor achieved full operational capability in December 2007.Ī further 60 Raptors were ordered in July 2007, bringing the total ordered to 183, with production to 2011. Initial operational test and evaluation began in April 2004 and was successfully completed in February 2005. The decision to proceed to low-rate initial production (LRIP) was authorised in August 2001 and Lockheed Martin delivered 49 aircraft under LRIP contracts. The aircraft’s designation was changed again to F-22A when it achieved initial operating capability (IOC) in December 2005. In September 2002, the USAF decided to redesignate the aircraft F/A-22 to reflect its multi-mission capability in ground attack as well as air-to-air roles. The first F-22 fighter aircraft was unveiled in April 1997 and was given the name Raptor.
F-22A Raptor developmentīy 1990 Lockheed Martin, teamed with Boeing and General Dynamics, had built and flown the demonstration prototype aircraft, designated YF-22. Lockheed Martin received a $7bn five-year contract to maintain the USAF fleet of F-22 Raptor stealth fighters, in December 2019. The last produced F-22 was delivered in 2012 and 183 F-22 aircraft are currently in service with the USAF. In April 2009, production of the F-22 fighter jet was officially terminated when Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced that the Pentagon would end the Lockheed-run F-22 programme and increase the production of the F-35 joint strike fighter. It entered service with the USAF in December 2005 to replace the F-15, with emphasis on agility, stealth and range.ĭeveloped at Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, the F-22A Raptor is a supersonic, dual-engine fighter jet, which has won the 2006 Robert J Collier Trophy from the American National Aeronautic Association (NAA). The F-22A Raptor is an advanced tactical fighter aircraft developed for the US Air Force (USAF).
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