F-35 vs. F-22: Expert Highlights Why the New U.S. Stealth Fighter is Overwhelmingly Superior to its Predecessor

In a recent interview on his new book on the F-35 program, combat aviation expert Abraham Abrams has evaluated how the aircraft compares to the only other Western fifth generation fighter type, the F-22. The F-22 made its first flight and was first brought into service a decade before the F-35 program achieved these same milestones, and was initially expected to serve as a heavier and longer ranged counterpart to the fighter as part of a high-low combination, much as the F-15 did for the F-16 in the previous generation, and as the Chinese J-20 does for the J-35 fifth generation fighter. As highlighted by Abrams, however, multiple major shortcomings with the F-22’s design, and the early termination of production and lack of comparable incremental modernisation, has ensured that the F-35 retains superiority “quite clearly and by a significant and growing margin.”

Abrams highlighted that the F-22 “suffered considerable cuts throughout its development due to the end of the Cold War both to production numbers and to its capabilities, and entered service after considerable delays more than 15 years later,” meaning it represents a 1990s technology level that is far from cutting edge. Its AN/APG-77 radar, for example, is decades behind the F-35’s new AN/APG-85 technologically. Prior assessments have highlighted the F-22’s lack of comparable data links or network centric warfare capabilities, electronic intelligence or electronic attack capabilities, lack of a distributed aperture system for improved situational awareness, and lack of helmet mounted sights, as well as its less sophisticated radar cross section reducing technologies. These factors all serve to give the F-35 a major edge. 

The performance gap between he F-22 and F-35 is expected to continue to grow, with Abrams observing that the latter “continues to be modernised comprehensively between production blocks, including with the planned integration of new engines, while the F-22 saw a relatively short production run with no comparable investment in incremental improvements.” He observed that although the F-22 has advantages in flight performance, its lack of helmet mounted sights more than compensate for this, and left it well behind the cutting edge in its visual range combat capabilities from the time it entered service. He observed that although the F-22 played an important role in pioneering advances in new technologies, its role in the Air Force’s future is limited, with the aircraft combining these performance disadvantages with poor availability rates and high sustainment costs. The Air Force has from the early 2020s made clear its plans to retire the F-22 from service decades ahead of schedule. 

In September 2025 Lockheed Martin reported it was holding “very active” talks with the Pentagon about enhancing the F-35 to a ‘5+ generation’ standard through the integration of technologies that have been developed for the F-47 sixth generation fighter program. “There’s significant interest in the government about discussing aircraft modernisation writ large, all the way up to the administration level, the White House level, and we’re in the middle of that with them, and we’re getting heard. We’re hearing back, and it’s pretty active,” the firm’s chief executive Jim Taiclet commented. He previously stated that such upgrades would provide the F-35 with “80 percent of six-gen capability.” Expected delays to the F-47 program are considered likely to fuel greater interest in and funding for enhancing the F-35 with new generations of technologies, ranging from stealth coatings to electronic warfare suites and engines, which will leave the F-22 increasingly far behind.