The F-22 Raptor has developed a sort of mythic status in modern air combat, at least in part. It flies as few others can, at least in part because it’s simply the simple fact that it isn’t just anybody. The United States sold advanced fighters previously, but the Raptor is unique mix of cost, politics, law, and highly sensitive advance technology has kept it strongly in the hands of Americans.
Production realities and budgets are the main hurdle. The Raptor was expensive to design and produce, and including development, inflation, and shipping, every airframe is a pricey investment. Taking it up in the air is costly too, the maintenance, training, and flight time are quickly added up more cost’s day by day.
Besides, the original assembly line fell out of use years ago, bringing it back would be an expense of multibillions of dollars project, and a lot of the industrial base has been reconfigured to support newer projects in the intervening time. It is just more convenient for a lot of weapon buyer countries to buy planes that are still being produced and supported at large scale.
And then there is the strategic rationale. The F-22 Raptor gives America a tremendous advantage in air supremacy through stealth technology, advance sensors, and elite performance, a ledge that has been carefully preserved. Shifting that ability to another country, however near, is risky, as the sensitive tech can be compromised by accident, cyber-attack, or tech theft.
Maintaining the Raptor in American custody allows Washington to deploy them into hot war zones as desired without having to fear that the Raptor’s secrets leak or a friendly country’s use threatens mission security.
Legislative bans make the alternative undefendable. In the late 1990s, Congress imposed a ban on exporting the F-22, a legislative hurdle that has been incredibly hard to revoke. That exemption is the result of a political agreement that some technologies should remain in the sole possession of Americans, undoing it would require sustained, bipartisan agreement that to this point has not been present. Even if other bans were lifted, then, the legal barrier remains a strong deterrent.
Its strongest case, though, is in defending cutting-edge technology. The F-22 is a decade of investment in stealth technology, radar-absorbent materials, advance sensor technology, and top of the class mission systems capabilities the United States deems strategic and uncopiable.
Preserving those technologies from the military’s hands, whether by capture or reverse engineering, or by insider technology leak, for the makers, is a challenge to prevent that loss of technology which is very secretive.
All of this co-operation, export is too expensive and problematic to produce, strategic reasons make its export risky, a ban due to legislation rules makes its export nearly prohibited, and covert technical information makes export risky from an operational perspective. Even friendly nations of USA who are close and have asked for Raptors have been denied, since all these reasons makes difficult to resist.
Actually, F-22 singularity is not so much an issue of prestige, although it is also that, as an issue of maintaining a hardcore power in air-to-air combat. From the increased cost, geopolitical motivations, legal taboo, and requirement to protect sensitive systems, the Raptor is something America would like to keep it reserve in its own possession.
In the near future, it will be a “look but don’t touch” asset, a demonstration of how some military capability is preserved not only for purpose, but for strategic stability.
