Keeping the F-22 Raptor in service until 2030 will cost more than $9 billion for US taxpayers

If the US Congress does not authorise the Air Force to retire its fifth-generation F-22 Raptor fighters, maintaining their readiness will cost billions of dollars by the end of the decade. This was revealed in the FY2024 budget request (FY).

Here's What We Know

The US Congress has not approved the US Air Force's request to retire some of the fighter jets in FY2023. The service now wants to retire 32 aircraft along with hundreds of other aircraft. The rejection will also affect the development of the sixth-generation fighter aircraft, as the US Air Force wanted to allocate the savings specifically to the Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) programme.

In total by 2030 USAF will have to spend $9.04 billion for F-22 Raptor. Proposed costs for components procurement for F-22 in FY2024-2030 make up $5.94 billion. Besides, USAF will have to invest $3.2 billion in research and development.

The largest expense items are associated with improvement of sensors and reliability and maintainability - $4.13 billion and $2.43 billion respectively. Other major purchases relate to Link 16 communication systems, friend-or-foe identification systems, upgrades to flight simulators and Pratt & Whitney F119 engine upgrades.

In addition, the US Air Force wants to spend $553 million on fuel tanks. Budget documents call for the purchase of 326 tanks and 286 pylons, giving each aircraft at least two complete sets. In this modification, the F-22 Raptor can fly at up to Mach 1.2 (1,482 km/h).

Given the costs since FY2018, the US Air Force projects the total cost of maintaining fifth-generation fighters in combat-ready condition to be $16.2 billion, or more than $100 million per aircraft. By 2030, the service could retain an estimated 148 fighters.

Source: Air & Space Forces Magazine