The F-22 is a product of three of the biggest names in aircraft design , Lockheed , General Dynamics and Boeing. They were awarded the contract to develop and build the replacement for the F-15. The F-22 is truly a fighter for the next century. It's stealth capabilities far surpass those of the F-117 and it's expected to perform beyond the ability of today's fighters. The F-22 is designed to survive in the face of large numbers of soviet produced missiles and planes (the soviets produced more MiG-29's in the past 5 years that the USA produced F-15's in the past 15 years).

The F-22 will have long-range internal fuel tanks and the ability to cruise at supersonic speeds without the use of afterburners. In the unlikely event of detection the F-22 carries a full suite of electronic counter measure equipment. The F-22 will carry the new AIM-120 missile as well as many other potent missiles in use today. A ground attack version is not in the works at present but because of the large wing area and powerful engines a very large bomb load is expected.

The F-22 incorporates the latest in technology in every sub-system. The flight-control system uses fibre-optic cables, digital computers and thrust vectoring engine nozzles. Thses nozzles should double the roll rate at low speeds and improve it by 1/3 at high speeds. High speed circuits and fibre optics are used to reduce weight and improve speeds wherever possible. Thermoplastic is used to make parts of the aircraft where heat is not a problem such as landing gear doors. Information will be presented to the pilot in the form of 3 CRT readouts. The F-22 also requires less time to maintain the aircraft. This should reduce the airlift requirement of an F-22 squadrom to 1/3 of an F-15 squadron. The F-22 will now require an auxilary power unit (APU) to be brought to it on a cart like with the F-15 as it has it's own built in APU for engine start.

The US Navy is considering the F-22 as a Strike Fighter for the year 2000.