F-22 Raptor vs. F/A-18 Super Hornet: Showdown between US fighter jets
Summary
- The comparison between the F/A-18 and the F-22 is about both inter-service rivalries and generational rivalries.
- The Super Hornet has a more extensive combat history than the F-22.
- In the short term, the F-22 may have the edge, but in the long term, due to availability and logistics, the F/A-18 will have the edge.
A good article about the F/A-18 showdown deserves another, especially when the showdown on paper includes the element of inter-service rivalry. Likewise, a good article about the showdown between 4th and 5th generation fighters deserves another.
Related
F-15EX Eagle II vs. F/A-18 Super Hornet: Which fighter is better?
F-15EX vs. F/A-18 is not just another rivalry between the services (USAF vs. USN). It is also a rivalry within the manufacturers, ie Boeing vs. Boeing.
After recently comparing (1) the US Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet to the US Air Force’s F-15EX Eagle II (part of the inter-service rivalry) and (2) the 5th-generation F-22 Raptor to the 4th-generation Eagle II (part of the generational rivalry), Simple Flying now presents a head-to-head comparison that takes both the inter-service rivalry and the generational rivalry into account. So how does the US Navy’s 4th-generation F/A-18E/F (and the mechanical movie star of Top Gun: Maverick) stack up against the USAF’s 5th-generation F-22?
Related
The history of the US F/A-18E/F Super Hornet program
The Super Hornet became famous through the movie “Top Gun: Maverick”.
There’s also a bit of corporate rivalry (in the defense industry sense) in this story, as the Super Hornet is a product of Boeing, while the F-22 is made by Lockheed Martin (as part of their legendary Skunk Works program).
Tale of the Tape: FA/18 vs. F-22 specifications direct comparison
As with any good (metaphorical) boxing match, a “story from the production line” is in order. The Raptor is by far the “younger” of the two fighter aircraft. It completed its maiden flight on September 7, 1997 and was officially commissioned on December 15, 2005. The Super Hornet completed its maiden flight on November 29, 1995, was officially introduced in 1999 and achieved initial operational capability (IOC) in 2001.
As for some other statistical/numerical comparisons:
|
F/A-18E/F |
F-22 |
Advantage |
|
|
Maximum flight speed: |
Mach 1.55 (1,190 mph; 1,915 km/h; 1,030 kn) at 40,000 feet (12,190 m) |
Mach 2.25 (1,500 mph; 2,414 km/h; 1,303 kn)) at high altitude |
F-22 |
|
Drive: |
2 × GE F414-400 turbofans, each 13,000 lbf (58 kN) thrust dry, 22,000 lbf (98 kN) with afterburner |
2 × Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 extended turbofans, each 26,000 lbf (116 kN) thrust dry, 35,000 lbf (156 kN) with afterburner |
F-22 |
|
Combat range: |
532 miles (856 km; 462 NM fighter escort (air-to-air) mission using internal fuel only |
530 miles (850 km; 460 NM) |
F/A-18 |
|
Ferry range: |
2,400 miles (3,900 km; 2,100 NM) with compliant fuel tanks and three external fuel tanks |
2,000 miles (3,220 km; 1,740 NM) |
F/A-18 |
|
Service ceiling: |
18,000 m (60,000 feet) |
20,000 m (65,000 feet) |
F-22 |
|
Climb rate: |
250 m/s (50,000 ft/min) + |
350 m/s (68,897 ft/min) |
F-22 |
|
Thrust/Weight: |
0.93 |
1.08 (1.25 with load weight and 50% internal fuel) |
F-22 |
|
Armor: |
|
|
F/A-18 |
The F/A-18E is the single-seat version of the Super Hornet, while the F variant is a two-seater (pilot and weapons systems officer (WSO)).
In metaphorical terms, the table above shows that the Raptor “beats” the Super Hornet 5-3. But as my high school social studies teacher, Mr. Mike Gallagher, liked to say, “There are three kinds of lies in the world: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” Or, to put it less cynically, there is more to the F-22 vs. F/A-18E/F debate than the above numbers suggest.
Combat history
The Super Hornet is definitely the most combat-proven of these two competing platforms. It was first used in combat on November 6, 2002, when, in support of Operation Southern Watch, two F/A-18Es – assigned to the U.S. Navy’s Strike Fighter Squadron 115 (VFA-115) – conducted a “response option” attack on two surface-to-air missile (SAM) launch pads at Al Kut, Iraq, and an air defense command and control (C2) bunker at Tallil Air Base. During the attack, one of the Super Hornet operators 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 value in combat missions time and again, from OIF to Operation Enduring Freedom (OIF) in Afghanistan to Operation Inherent Resolve (the air campaign against the Islamic State/ISIS/ISIL/Daesh Up to and including the current campaign against the Houthis in Yemen, the terrorist militia “Terrorgruppe” is not only in the hands of the US Navy, but also in the competent hands of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).
In addition, the Super Hornet also passed the toughest test in air combat on June 18, 2017, when a U.S. Navy F/A-18E shot down a Syrian Air Force Sukhoi Su-22 “Fitter” fighter-bomber. This was the first shootdown of a manned enemy aircraft by an American fighter aircraft since 1999 and the first by the U.S. Navy since Operation Desert Storm (1991).
In contrast, while the Raptor is impressive on paper, its performance in real combat is much lower. To my knowledge, the F-22 was only used in combat on February 5, 2023, when a Raptor from the USAF’s 1st Fighter Squadron shot down the infamous Red Chinese spy balloon on the coast of South Carolina at an altitude of about 20,000 m with an AIM-9X Sidewinder infrared (heat-seeking) missile.
Intangible assets
The F-22 has the obvious advantage of being a stealth aircraft, Right to exist of 5th generation fighters. Although the F/A-18 has a relatively small radar cross section (RCS), it will still have a larger radar signature and will therefore be detected by the enemy long before the F-22.
One clear advantage of the F/A-18 is its ability to operate from aircraft carriers, a capability sorely lacking in the F-22. Okay, dear readers, I can hear you saying, “Well, thanks a lot, Captain Obvious! That’s because the Super Hornet is a naval machine, while the Raptor is an air force machine!”
While this is true, it is worth remembering that the USAF’s (and Lockheed Martin’s) other fifth-generation stealth fighter, the controversial F-35 Lightning II, has a US variant – the F-35C – that can and does operate from the flight deck of an aircraft carrier:
The point here is that, given the importance of carrier-based aircraft to the U.S. military’s power projection around the globe, the Super Hornet has an additional level of range flexibility that the Raptor does not, reminiscent of the dictum of early 20th century air power theorist General Giulio Douhet that “flexibility is the key to air power” (or, to put it more humorously, “Semper Gumby (Always flexible)!”).
When asked *why* there is no carrier version of the Raptor, Alex Hollings from The national interest gives us this answer:
“To make the F-22 suitable for carrier operations, Lockheed Martin would have had to make a number of significant changes to the F-22 design. Besides the usual changes one might expect from a carrier-capable aircraft (things like a strengthened fuselage and an additional arresting hook), a Navy variant of the F-22 would have had to feature a variable-sweep wing design similar to that of the Navy’s existing F-14 Tomcats. This addition, perhaps more than any other, would have been a real challenge for engineers. Sweep wings were expensive to maintain in the first place, but integrating a swing wing design into a
**Secrecy**
Airplanes might have been nearly impossible without sacrificing some degree of low visibility.” (Author’s emphasis)
It’s also about money, sense and availability. As great 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 cancel the F-22 program after only 187 of the 381 aircraft that the USAF originally needed had been built.
- As reported in Military Watch MagazineIn May 2021, the USAF announced the retirement of the F-22 and ten months later decreed that the first Raptor units would soon be retired.
In other words, the Raptor’s growth potential is severely limited.
Although the Navy is slowly but surely replacing the F/A-18 with the F-35C and plans to eventually complete the replacement process via the 6th generation F/A-XX program, U.S. Navy leadership doesn’t seem to be in any particular hurry to retire the Super Hornet. Not only has the Navy not announced an official retirement date for the fighter jet, but last March it even issued a $1.1 billion contract modification to Boeing for the final 17 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets. In the meantime, in its fiscal year 2025 budget request, it has proposed delaying the F/A-XX to focus on near-term investments.
In other words, the F/A-18E/F will be more readily available than the F-22, both in terms of the number of actual aircraft and the spare parts it needs to keep it airworthy.
And the winner is…?
To reiterate what I said in my F-22 vs. F-15EX article:
“If I were an American fighter pilot and knew that tomorrow I would have to compete against a ChiCom J-20 ‘Fagin’ or a Russian Sukhoi Su-57 ‘Felon’ stealth fighter, I would definitely want to strap myself into the cockpit of an F-22 to enjoy the technical superiority of the 5th generation. So for short-term scenarios, the F-22 is the winner.”
However, if we look beyond short-term tactical scenarios and consider the long-term logistical realities, we must once again face the fact that the Super Hornets will still be available even if the Raptors go the way of the dodo, not to mention that the Navy’s aircraft will be complemented by the 5th generation F-35, which is still in production. This brings to mind two proverbs:
- “Quantity has its own quality.”
- “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”
Or to put it another way, one combat-ready Super Hornet fighter is worth two Raptors grounded and idling. In the short term, the F-22 wins, but in the long term, the F/A-18E/F (as well as the F-15EX) wins.
Related
F-22 Raptor vs. F-15EX Eagle II: Modern US fighter aircraft compared
Time for another hypothetical showdown between high-tech jet fighters: F-22 versus F-15EX. Who will win?
