Lockheed Martin has modernised more than 80 F-22 Raptor fifth-generation fighters and plans to improve 20 more aircraft in 2023

The US Department of Defence has allocated $10.9 to Lockheed Martin to upgrade its fleet of fifth-generation F-22 Raptor fighters in 2021. The US defence contractor has been successful with this.

Here's What We Know

The US Air Force has approximately 180 F-22 Raptor fighters of varying levels of operational readiness in service. Lockheed Martin has already modernised almost half of the aircraft and wants to improve about two dozen more units by the end of the year.

The statement was made by O.J. Sanchez, president of the F-16 and F-22 programmes. He said the company has modernised more than 80 fifth-generation fighters. In total, the number of improved aircraft will exceed 100 by the end of 2023.

Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Air Force are keeping key details of the modernisation secret, but some things have become known. In particular, the Raptor Agile Capability Release (RACR) series of upgrades is focused on open systems architecture.

This year, the company completed the 3.2B update, which brought the aircraft the ability to carry AIM-120 AMRAAM and AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. The fighters also get external fuel tanks to improve range.

Source: Defence One