The F-22 and F-35 are two different aircraft, and achieve their best results when working in concert, not competition.

Recent joint training between US Air Force F-22 Raptors and Finnish Air Force F-35A Lightning IIs highlighted how the two fifth-generation fighters increasingly operate together.

Public discourse and debate surrounding the two aircraft often frames them as rivals to each other, two cutting-edge American fighter jets butting heads to be considered the world’s best. In fact, as the Air Force has stressed in the past, the two aircraft are fundamentally designed for two different mission sets. While the F-22 prioritizes air superiority and aerial combat, the F-35 emphasizes sensor fusion, networking, and multirole flexibility. It is extremely difficult to imagine that the two would ever find themselves in a dogfight.

Still, putting the two iconic fifth-generation aircraft head-to-head is a thought-provoking exercise that illustrates how modern wars are fought—and how much modern air combat has evolved beyond traditional dogfighting.

The F-22 Raptor vs. the F-35 Lightning: A Head-to-Head Comparison

Aircraft	F-22 Raptor	F-35 Lightning II
Year Introduced	2005	2015
Number Built	195 (187 operational)	1,300+
Length	62 ft 1 in (18.9 m)	51 ft 4 in (15.7 m)
Wingspan	44 ft 6 in (13.6 m)	35 ft (10.7 m)
Weight (MTOW)	83,500 lb (37.875 kg)	70,000 lb (31,800 kg)
Engine(s)	Two Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 afterburning turbofans with thrust vectoring	One Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-100 afterburning turbofan
Top Speed	~1,500 mph (2,414 km/h) / Mach 2.25	~1,200 mph (1,930 km/h) / Mach 1.6
Combat Radius	~590 mi (950 km)	~670 mi (1,080 km)
Service Ceiling	65,000 ft (16,000 m)	50,000 ft (15,240 m)
Loadout	One M61A2 20mm cannon; internal weapons bays; can be equipped with AIM-120 AMRAAM, AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles, JDAM bombs	One GAU-22/A 25mm cannon; internal weapons bays; can be equipped with AIM-120 AMRAAM, AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles, JDAM and SDB bombs
Aircrew	1	1

What Do the F-22 and F-35 Have in Common?

Despite the many design differences between the F-22 and the F-35, they are similar at a glance. Their shared design philosophy—prioritizing stealth over raw firepower—gives them a somewhat bulky appearance from the need for internal weapons bays; the two airframes have far more in common with each other than with the F-16 Fighting Falcon or the F/A-18 Super Hornet, for instance. They are similar under the hood, too; shared characteristics include AESA radar, internal weapons bays, sensor fusion, and electronic warfare capabilities. Both aircraft represent a major technological leap over America’s fourth-generation fighters.

How Are the F-22 and F-35 Different?

The F-22 and F-35 have significant differences with respect to their design philosophies. The F-22 was designed purely for air superiority—destroying enemy fighters and establishing control of the skies through high-performance maneuvering. The F-35 was designed as a multirole strike fighter capable of intelligence collection and networking. It is basically a flying combat computer. It holds an advantage in terms of strike capability and networking over the F-22, no surprise given its more recent development.

How the F-22 Program Shaped the F-35

Accordingly, the F-22 is the world’s premier fighter jet. Even though it was first introduced in 2005, more than 20 years ago, no other aircraft has yet managed to surpass it. The F-22’s combination of high speed, extreme maneuverability, and cutting-edge stealth features has stood the test of time, making it a world-beater in aerial combat to the present day.

In a sense, the F-22 was a victim of its own success. One of the reasons it was never exported was that the technology contained within was so far ahead of its time that the United States preferred to keep it hidden from foreign prying eyes. But the decision not to export the F-22 meant that Lockheed Martin could not offset its costs. The aircraft’s flyaway cost in the mid-2000s was $143 million (~$245 million in 2026), but the expenses associated with its development effectively raised the cost per aircraft to as much as $350 million (~$600 million 2026). This massive cost led the Obama administration to shutter the F-22’s production lines in 2009, with only 187 out of a planned 750 aircraft built.

The Pentagon learned from its mistakes with the F-22 program. Today, the F-35 contains much classified technology of its own, but exports have helped to keep the program solvent, in spite of a slightly higher security risk. As a result, the F-35 is (relatively) affordable; each F-35 costs from $80–110 million depending on variant, comparable to a new F-15EX Eagle II.

Is the F-35 or the F-22 More Useful in a Fight?

Modern air combat is typically decided beyond visual range (BVR). Both the F-22 and the F-35 are capable in this space; it is hard to say which is better than the other. The F-35 enjoys exceptional sensor fusion, the AN/APG-81 AESA radar, Distributed Aperture System (DAS), and Electro-Optical Targeting System. The F-35 has excellent passive detection and can build an incredibly detailed battlespace picture—and can then share that targeting data across Link-16 and MADL. As such, the F-35 often detects threats before being detected.

The F-22 lacks some of the F-35’s advanced sensors. On the flip side, however, it has an extremely low radar cross section, making it harder to spot, and a powerful AN/APG-77 AESA radar of its own—not quite as advanced as the AN/APG-81, but good enough to spot nearly any threat opposite it before that threat spots it. The F-22 combines these capabilities with truly astonishing kinetic performance; with a higher speed and service ceiling than the F-35, it can outfly the rival aircraft and launch missiles with greater energy. Against the majority of opponents, the F-22 would get the critical first shot off. Between the F-22 and F-35, it is hard to say; the F-35 has better information, the F-22 better kinetics. 

BVR combat is less likely to collapse into a WVR dogfight today than in the past. Under such a circumstance, the F-35 doesn’t stand a chance. With thrust-vectoring nozzles, extreme agility, super maneuverability, higher thrust-to-weight ratio, faster acceleration, higher sustained turn rate, and a better climb rate, the F-22 is one of the greatest dogfighters ever built. The F-35, of course, is no slouch in any of these categories. But the platform is not optimized for close-in maneuvering, since that rarely happens in modern warfare.

So where does that leave the two aircraft? Ultimately, asking which one can beat the other is the wrong question. The F-22 and F-35 are complementary to one another, and are best used accordingly. The two aircraft enhance each other—serving, when combined, as the most comprehensive and capable fighter package in the world.

About the Author: Harrison Kass

Harrison Kass is a writer and attorney focused on national security, technology, and political culture. His work has appeared in Tablet, City Journal, The Hill, The Spectator, and The Cipher Brief. He holds a JD from the University of Oregon and a master’s in Global & Joint Program Studies from NYU. More at harrisonkass.com.

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