Summary The F/A-18 vs. F-22 comparison involves both interservice and generational rivalries. The Super Hornet has a more extensive combat history compared to the F-22.
The F-22 may win in the short term, but the F/A-18 wins in the long run due to availability and logistics. One good F/A-18 showdown article deserves another, especially when the on-paper showdown includes the element of interservice rivalry. Likewise, one good 4th Generation vs 5th Generation fighter showdown piece deserves another.
F-15EX vs F/A-18 doesn't entail just another interservice (USAF vs USN) rivalry. It's also an intra-manufacturer rivalry, i.e.
Boeing vs Boeing. Having recently compared (1) the US Navy's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet to the US Air Force F-15EX Eagle II (the interservice rivalry bit), and (2) the 5th Generation F-22 Raptor to the 4th Generation Eagle II (the generational rivalry bit), Simple Flying now presents a head-to-head comparison that incorporates both the interservice rivalry and generational rivalry themes. So then, how does the USN's 4th Generation (and Top Gun: Maverick mechanical movie star) F/A-18E/F stack up against the USAF's 5th Generation F-22? The Super Hornet became a celebrity thanks to the film 'Top Gun: Maverick.
' This story also includes a bit of inter-corporate (as in defense contractor) rivalry, as the Super Hornet is a Boeing product whilst the F-22 is made by Lockheed Martin (as part of their legendary Skunk Works program ). Tale of the Tape: F-A/18 vs. F-22 specifications head-to-head Like any good (metaphorical) boxing match, a "tale of the tape" is in order.
The Raptor is the "younger" of the two warbirds by a slight margin, having made its maiden flight on September 7, 1997, and entering official operational service on December 15, 2005; meanwhile, the Super Hornet made its own maiden flight on November 29, 1995, was officially introduced in 1999, and attained initial operational capability (IOC) in 2001. As for some other statistical/numerical comparisons: F/A-18E/F F-22 Advantage Max Airspeed: Mach 1.55 (1,190 mph; 1,915 km/h; 1,030 kn) at 40,000 ft (12,190 m) Mach 2.
25 (1,500 mph; 2,414 km/h; 1,303 kn)) at high altitude F-22 Powerplant: 2 × G.E. F414-400 turbofans, 13,000 lbf (58 kN) thrust each dry, 22,000 lbf (98 kN) with afterburner 2 × Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 augmented turbofans, 26,000 lbf (116 kN) thrust each dry, 35,000 lbf (156 kN) with afterburner F-22 Combat Range: 532 mi (856 km;462 NM fighter escort (air-to-air) mission on internal fuel only 530 mi (850 km; 460 NM) F/A-18 Ferry Range: 2,400 mi, (3,900 km;2,100 NM) with conformal fuel tanks and three external fuel tanks 2,000 mi (3,220 km; 1,740 NM) F/A-18 Service Ceiling: 60,000 ft (18,000 m) 65,000 ft (20,000 m) F-22 Rate of Climb: 50,000 ft/min (250 m/s) + 68,897 ft/min (350 m/s) F-22 Thrust/Weight: 0.
93 1.08 (1.25 with loaded weight and 50% internal fuel) F-22 Armament: 1× 20 mm (0.
787 in) M61A1 Vulcan 6-barreled Gatling cannon, 500 rounds of either M-56 or PGU-28 ammunition 12 air-to-air missiles 29,500 lb (13,400 kg) of air-to-ground ordnance payload 1× 20 mm M61A2 Vulcan rotary cannon, 480 rounds 12 air-to-air missiles 7,000 lb (3,175 kg) air-to-ground ordnance payload F/A-18 The F/A-18E is the single-seat version of the Super Hornet, whilst the F variant is the two-seater (pilot and Weapon Systems Officer [WSO]). So, in terms of a metaphorical "scoreboard," the above table shows the Raptor "beating" the Super Hornet 5-3. But as my high school social studies teacher, Mr.
Mike Gallagher, was fond of saying, "There's three kinds of lies in the world: lies, damn lies, and statistics." Or. to put a less cynical spin on it, there's more to the F-22 vs.
F/A-18E/F debate than meets the eye via those above-cited numbers. Combat history The Super Hornet is definitely the most battle-tested of these two competing platforms. It was first "blooded" in combat back on November 6, 2002, when, in support of Operation Southern Watch, two F/A-18Es -- attached to the US Navy's Strike Fighter Squadron 115 (VFA-115) -- conducted a "Response Option" strike on two surface-to-air missile (SAM) launchers at Al Kut, Iraq and an air defense command and control(C2) bunker at Tallil Airbase.
In the process, one of the Super Hornet drivers dropped 2,000 lb (910 kg) Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) from the Super Hornet for the first time during combat. Since then, the F/A-18E/F has proven its worth in combat operations time and time again, from OIF to Operation Enduring Freedom (OIF) in Afghanistan to Operation Inherent Resolve (the air campaign against the Islamic State/ISIS/ISIL/ Da'esh terrorist group ) to the current anti-Houthi campaign in Yemen , not just in USN hands but in the capable hands of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) as well. For good measure, the Super Hornet has also passed the acid test of air-to-air combat, doing so on June 18, 2017, whereupon a US Navy F/A-18E downed a Syrian Air Force Sukhoi Su-22 "Fitter" fighter-bomber, thus signifying the first aerial kill of a manned enemy aircraft by an American fighter since 1999 and the USN's first since Operation Desert Storm (in 1991).
By contrast, as impressive as the Raptor is on paper, its body of work in real-world combat is much smaller. To my knowledge, the only time the F-22 has been used in battle was on February 5, 2023, when a Raptor of the USAF's 1st Fighter Squadron was used to shoot down that infamous Red Chinese spy balloon of that coast of South Carolina at an altitude of approximately 65,000 ft (20,000 m), using an AIM-9X Sidewinder infrared (heat-seeking) missile. Learn more about America's most famous balloon-busting fighter pilot, 1st Lt Frank Luke Jr .
Intangibles The F-22 has the obviously advantage of stealth, which is the raison d'être of 5th Generation fighters. The F/A-18, though having a reasonably small radar cross-section (RCS), is still going to have a larger radar signature and will, therefore, be detected by the enemy long before the F-22 will. One distinct advantage of the F/A-18 is its ability to operate from aircraft carriers, an ability that the F-22 sorely lacks.
Okay, dear readers, I can hear you saying, "Well, gee, thank you, Captain Obvious! That's because the Super Hornet is a Navy asset whilst the Raptor is an Air Force asset!" True enough; however, bear in mind that the USAF's (and Lockheed Martin's) other 5th Generation stealth fighter, the oh-so-controversial F-35 Lightning II , comes in a USN variant -- the F-35C -- that can and does operate off of aircraft carrier flight decks: Point here being, given the importance of carrier-borne aircraft in the US military's power projection capabilities around the globe, the Super Hornet has an extra degree of downrange flexibility that the Raptor does not, thus bringing to mind the dictum of early 20th-century airpower theorist Gen. Giulio Douhet that "Flexibility is the key to airpower" (or to put a more humorous spin on it, " Semper Gumby [Always Flexible]!"). As for the question of *why* there isn't a carrier version of the Raptor, Alex Hollings of The National Interest provides us this answer: "In order to make the F-22 suitable for carrier duty, Lockheed Martin would have had to incorporate a number of significant changes to the F-22’s design.
Alongside the usual changes one can expect out of a carrier-capable aircraft (things like a strengthened fuselage and added tail hook), a Navy variant of the F-22 would have needed to incorporate a variable sweep-wing design similar to that employed by the Navy’s existing F-14 Tomcats . This addition, perhaps more than any of the others, would have been a real challenge for engineers to contend with. Sweep wings were expensive to maintain to begin with, but incorporating a sweep-wing design into a **stealth** aircraft may have been nearly impossible without sacrificing some degree of low observability.
" [author's original emphasis] Learn more about the F-14 Tomcat . There's also the issue of dollars and sense, and availability. As amazing as the F-22 is, it won't be around much longer for two reasons: In 2009, then-US Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) Bob Gates decided to kil the F-22 program after only 187 airframes were built of the original number of 381 that the USAF had originally expressed a need for; As reported in Military Watch Magazine , the USAF announced in May 2021 that it would retire the F-22, and followed up on that announcement 10 months later by decreeing that the first Raptor units would begin retirement imminently.
In other words, severely stunted growth potential fpr the Raptor. By contrast, though the Navy is slowly but surely replacing the F/A-18s with the F-35C, and eventually plans to complete the replacement process via the 6th Generation F/A-XX program, the USN brass doesn't seem to be in a particularly big hurry to retire the Super Hornet, Not only has the Navy not announced any official retirement date for the warbird, they indeed issued a $1.1 billion USD contract modification to Boeing this past March for the final 17 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets.
Meanwhile, they proposed delaying F/A-XX in their FY 2025 budget request in order to focus on near-term investments. In other words, the F/A-18E/F will be more readily available than the F-22, in terms of numbers of actual airframes as well as spare parts to keep them flying. And the winner is.
..? To reiterate what I said in my F-22 vs F-15EX piece: "Well, if I were an American fighter pilot, and I knew that I had to go up against a ChiCom J-20 'Fagin' or Russian Sukhoi Su-57 'Felon' stealth fighter tomorrow, I would definitely want to strap myself into the cockpit of an F-22 for that 5th Generation technical superiority.
So, for short-term scenarios, the F-22 is the winner." That said, however, looking beyond short-term tactical scenarios andconsidering long-term logistical realities, we once again face the reality that the Super Hornets will still be available once the Raptors start going the way of the dodo bird, not to mention that the Navy planes are being augmented by the 5th Generation F-35 which very much remains in production. This brings to mind two proverbs: "Quantity has a quality all its own.
" "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" Or, to put it another way, a fit-to-fight Super Hornet warbird is worth two Raptor warbirds that are grounded and idled. The F-22 wins in the short term, but the F/A-18E/F (just like the F-15EX) wins in the long run. Time for another hypothetical high-tech jet fighter showdown: F-22 vs.
F-15EX. Who wins?.
