The F-22 Raptor is one of the premier fighter jets in the sky and one of the few fifth-generation fighters in active service in 2026. Still, despite its bleeding-edge placement in the United States Air Force’s arsenal, it’s getting a little long in the tooth, having first been introduced to service all the way back in 2005.
The War Zone reported that a Lockheed Martin-produced mockup of the new version of the Raptor was at the Warfare Symposium, a convention for the defense industry and elements of the United States military. The outlet reported some noteworthy changes being made on this plane. Namely, the aircraft is slated to get upgrades in the form of some extra range and another set of eyes.
Fuel tanks and sensor pods might not sound like a big deal, as those components have been mounted to wing pylons of various aircraft for decades. But it’s not so easy to make these kinds of adjustments on a plane as stealthy as the F-22. That’s because external fuel tanks and sensors don’t have the same stealth considerations as the rest of the aircraft. A big fuel tank is nice, but it can make the plane more visible to radar.
The latest and greatest Raptor
The newer and stealthier sensor pods are posited to give the Raptor better infrared tracking capabilities, according to The War Zone. Given the F-22’s primary role as an air-to-air fighter and the increasing prevalence of powerful stealth fighters from potentially adversarial air forces, any extra capability would likely be welcome.
Specifics as to how much extra range the fuel tanks will give the Raptor and what the sensor pods will allow the F-22 Raptor to do are likely classified. Nevertheless, upgrades are expected to enter service, or at least more advanced testing, over the course of 2026.
The F-22 Raptor, despite all of its menace and upcoming capabilities that, at least on paper, seem to entirely outclass most other jets, has never seen much air-to-air combat apart from shooting down a suspected surveillance balloon. The jet’s exclusivity paired with the fact that Air Force fighters don’t shoot down jets that frequently, means that the F-22 doesn’t see a lot of air-to-air action (at least that we know of).
