The F-22 Raptor is not just another fighter aircraft—it’s a legend of modern air warfare, not just because of its miraculous abilities but because no one else gets to pilot it. As with aircraft such as the F-16, F/A-18, or F-35 that America has made available to close friends and allies, the Raptor is very American. The reasons for its exclusivity are tied to cost, strategy, legal issues, and the country’s insistence on keeping its most developed technology secret.
One of the foremost reasons is the cost and production challenges. The cost of each F-22 is exorbitant at some $350 million for research, development, and manufacture. Flying and maintaining it airborne is even costlier—some $60,000 per hour, roughly twice that of an F-35 airborne.
Even if a friendly nation could presently afford to purchase Raptors, they’d have an additional impediment: the production line shut down in 2011. It would take billions to restart it, and much of the initial tooling has already been redirected towards the F-35 program. In practical terms, it’s simpler and cheaper for other nations to purchase planes already in production.
Raptor’s value militarily is also the reason that it was never sold. Its stealth capability to get close to an enemy and catch them off guard, its speed, and air superiority make it one of America’s greatest assets, particularly when the enemy is well-trained. Forgive such an aircraft—even to friends—might jeopardize that bargaining power.
Sensitive technology may be leaked through espionage, battlefield seizure, or compromised by an individual. F-22 exclusivity ensures that America is free to deploy it wherever it desires without divulging its secrets.
Legislative ban also exercises the final authority. Congress approved the Obey Amendment in 1998, which squarely bans the export of the F-22 to any foreign military. The law is categorical and has no loopholes.
Program plans to produce an export variant have been put on hold because the legal hurdle is too substantial. Unless Congress votes to remove the ban—a highly improbable move—the Raptor will be off the foreign shelf.
Above all, the F-22 boasts technology that the U.S. cannot lose. Its stealth paints, sophisticated avionics, and sensor webs integrated together represent decades of research and billions of dollars. Its radar cross-section is famously tiny, sometimes described as the size of a metal marble, which makes it virtually invisible.
To make this technology accessible to the wrong person—accidentally, crash, or be reverse-engineered—would be a disaster. Even very friendly allies, Japan and Australia, have had Raptors denied them in their requests.
Ultimately, F-22 exclusivity is not prestige, but a question of protecting an unmatched advantage in air-to-air combat.
At horrific cost, strategic worth, impunity-wrapped legal cover, and sneaky cutting-edge equipment classified, the Raptor is safely locked away in American hands. At least for the foreseeable future, it will be the ultimate “look but don’t touch” fighter aircraft.