1.When you launch munitions, supercruise don't matter. Matters speed and altitude right now, even if you got them just to launch your payload. Speed matters in getting in and out alive
This was the point I was trying to make with the original statement. That through the mission performance of air superiority. F22 does a pretty good job lobbing SDB and JDAMS. If the J20 also has performance on par with the Raptor it would do just as well.
You however then tried to twist that.
With Mig-31 around we always forget, what F-15 family are by far the fastest air superiority fighters(and bombers, if we are talking about E). Flankers are second best, but they are still comfortably ahead of any competition.(ironically, though, pure bomber flanker is speed-limited, too
All serving fifth gen fighters do not have unclassified top speed or performance figures. Everything is an estimate or approved release.
Top speed of Raptor is estimated to be mach 2.25 but is likely faster.
F15E is said to be Mach 2.5+
But you farther have to consider the weight and drag figures.
F22 with standard weapons load is low drag because by showing it's weapons internally it moved them from air stream of the fighter.
Unless you are talking about one of the Boeing offered Refits or Silent Eagles F15 doesn't do that. More does flanker. Adding weapons to the exterior adds weight but also subtracts lift surface this in turn reduces performance. A absolutely clean F15E is a proverbial rocket ship a loaded one is slower heavier and has less speed and agility.
When we see Mig29 and Su27 performing the crazy maneuvers and displays how often is it with a full weapon load and drop tanks? Very rarely. The pure bomber Flanker model? It added drag with the changes to the cockpit and nose. This added weight as well.
2.Raptor range isn't special even by american standarts(which aren't high in terms of range to begin with), it is just a super hungry fuel burner, with a very average fuel fraction(which has dropped starkly between yf-22 and f/a-22).
Which is fine.
Yes if you are flying at subsonic you are more fuel efficient than at super cruise but both are far more fuel efficient than afterburner.
Most fighters don't fly more than a few minutes in the super sonic regime as is despite service lives in the hundreds of thousands of hours. YF22 Was a hotrod compared to the mission ready F22. So of course she gave up something for mission equipment.
Typically, american fighters solve it through air refuelling, but stealthy supercruiser has its own problems with this approach.
It wasn't a problem over Europe. It is, over the Pacific
this is miss leading. It's based on the assumption of the USSR as a European nation in the cold war. It's true Russia is European it's also the largest Asian country by land mass. With the cast step of Siberia being the Russian Army's play ground. In the event of a hot war in the bad old days American fighter aircraft would to punch into that play ground, hunt Russian bombers and interceptor.
What changed was the more advanced ground to air missile systems with very long ranges able to seek out and kill tankers, AEW and older bombers. The older SAM systems were a land mine you had to step on it to set it off. These new ones like the S400 are a sniper nest. They can pick off tankers before they can do any good.
The problem is not unique to the F22 but all fighters as unless you try and build a fighter the size of a bomber ( see Dale Brown novels on that) your always going to need a tanker and tankers are either airliners or Transports that are visible as all Hell to any radar system mated to a surface to air missile.
J20 and SU57 are not going to have huge range advantages either. Despite the hype they are not much larger than Raptor and make there own sacrifices. The SU57 bomb bay approach for example eats into space for fuel tanks.
3.instrument of choice for a deep strike fighter is the f-35, not the f-22.
Because apart from being limited to SDBs, raptor also has problems with targeting land targets on its own. It just wasn't created to do it,and has no instruments onboard: just a delivery truck(strictly speaking, there is a radar in a2g mode, but it has ots limitations and it won't be stealthy).
Correct. But again we were talking secondary role not primary.
And Raptor can carry JDAM. If the Raptor driver has gone to A2G mode he is likely already close to his target anyway. If the target doesn't know he's there now... they will very soon.
5.there are reasons why, according to current plans, f-15 family will essentially outlive f-22 in service. That's one of them. ATF is a marvel, but it's a marvellous one trick pony.
Wrong but also right
USAF planing has F22 in service into the 2060s F15 survived in the USAF because the end of production meant that they didn't have the numbers to replace the 700+ F15C-D in US service. F15E is slated to be dropped from service eventually by F35A.
For the U.S. NGAD is the F22 re-due to finally phase out F15.
USAF F15 fleet in previous years was being looked at to retired early from the USAF. In all likelihood F15 will not serve past the 2040s for the USAF.
Abroad it is a different story F15 buys have continued to this day. But based off the E air frame. As such yes they will likely continue into the 2060s but that's like the Mig21. Still in service but is it really?
Raptor is not a one trick pony it does duel role. There is slated to be a F22 midlife program in 2024 before the start of NGAD. I would be surprised if it merged with NGAD for a F22C. Adding sensors from F35 and variable sycle engines into Raptors increasing range by 30-40%. The main solution for range though is not on the Raptor or lightning.
Tanking and AEW are still issues for range and support though across the Pacific.
But AEW doesn't need a crew. The USAF was for a time looking into removing the staff of E3 save for the flight crew. It seems likely that we may end up with unmanned systems for that mission using data links to communicate with fighters And American Fifth gens are in formation virtual AEW.
Tanking is the next problem yet the Navy recently started a unmanned tanker.
One could see some of these concept UCAVs being redesigned to serve as flying radars well others get booms.
There are studies already looking into low observable tankers and transports as well aimed for the 2030s. With the B21 around the corner there would also be an aircraft with low observable characteristics that could be converted.
