In a surprise move, President Donald Trump has reportedly approved the sale of an upgraded F-22 Raptor variant to Israel, with a number of sources alleging Defense Secretary Mark Esper confirmed the sale to Israeli authorities during an official visit to Israel, which raises the question, can Australia and other allies like Japan get their hands on the platform?
Designed to establish and maintain air superiority or air dominance, fighter aircraft have evolved from relatively simple wood and canvas air frames during the First World War, to the highly manoeuvrable, long-range aircraft that dominated the skies of Europe and the Pacific during the Second World War.
The latest two generations of fighter aircraft combining advanced avionics, sensor systems and equally advanced weapons systems, in conjunction with survivable, agile and high-speed airframes and now low observability characteristics ranging from specialised shaping to radar absorbing and scattering materials, serve to establish these aircraft as the pinnacle of these earlier designs.
While platforms like the F-15 Eagle, F/A-18 Hornet, Eurofighter Typhoon, Russia's Su-27 and Su-30 series and China's own J-10 and locally 'developed' carrier-based Su-30-based J-15 will all serve as the bulk of most contemporary air forces, fifth-generation aircraft are growing in proliferation and capability as the dawn of a new era reshapes the modern aerial battlespace for many nations, including Australia.
Designed from the outset to be the world's premier air superiority platform, building on the impressive legacy established by the F-15 Eagle series, the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor combines all-aspect stealth even when armed, low-probability-of-intercept radar, high-performance air frames, advanced avionics and highly integrated computer systems, these aircraft provide unrivalled air dominance, situational awareness, networking, interdiction and strike capabilities for commanders to provide an uncompromising fifth-generation air combat capability for the US Air Force, albeit in an exceptionally limited number.
