It's the beginning of the end for one of the most controversial weapons in decades. Nine years after the F-22 Raptor entered production at a complex of factories stretching from Georgia to Washington State, the major components for the 195th and last copy of the radar-evading, Mach-2 jet are winding their way to Lockheed Martin's final assembly facility in Marietta, Georgia. Raptor 4195, as the last example is known, is slated for handover to the U.S. Air Force in February 2012. The total bill so far: $65 billion, for a per-copy cost of more than $300 million.

Production aside, the Raptor's story is really just beginning. Compared to the Air Force's current armada of 1,500 F-15s and F-16s (not to mention the projected future fleet of 1,800 stealthy Lockheed-built F-35s), the Raptor force might seem tiny. But pound for pound, the F-22 is by far the most capable fighter plane in the world. The Air Force and Lockheed have big plans for keep the Raptor on top for the next 30 years.

The main idea: to make the F-22 more like the potentially cheaper F-35 Joint Strike Fighter that's taking the Raptor's place in Pentagon budgets. Not too long ago, the Pentagon defended its decision to curtail the F-22 program by claiming the F-35 was more modern. F-22 boosters countered that the Raptor could do things the F-35 couldn't. If Lockheed's plan moves forward, it could substantially erase the differences between the two jets.

The way Lockheed imagines it, in the near future the F-22 and F-35 will have compatible computer systems, allowing them to "teach" each other new skills. "There's a tremendous opportunity to leverage the technological advantages the F-35 has been able to have because it's a newer platform," Jeff Babione, Lockheed's top F-22 official, told Danger Room. "At the same time, it would allow the F-22 to develop technology that can go back to the F-35. This synergy has never existed in two airplanes before."

Observers might be surprised to learn that the F-22 and F-35 aren't already compatible. Both are Lockheed designs. Both are assembled by the same workers in some of the same factories. They even look alike, although the F-22 is bigger and has two engines, as opposed to the F-35's single motor. For all that, the F-22 and F-35 use totally different computer systems and thus different software. "Improving hardware or software on the F-35 yields no benefit for the F-22, and vice versa," Flight's Steve Trimble noted last month.

Trimble implied that Lockheed might try adding the F-35's black boxes to the dozen-or-so F-22s still in some stage of final assembly in Marietta. Babione told Danger Room that's not going to happen. "It would be down the line," he admitted. The Air Force has plotted out nearly $10 billion in near-term F-22 upgrades – better radars, more weapons, enhanced communications – and the F-35-style computers could be folded into that process, "probably within the next several years, if the U.S. Air Force chooses to do it," Babione said.

One example of possible "synergy" between the two fighters is the so-called Multifunction Airborne Data Link, or "MADL." The Air Force developed the narrow-spectrum MADL radio waveform to allow stealthy jets to send each other information without giving away their locations. The B-2 bomber has MADL. So does the F-35. But the Air Force has balked at installing MADL on the F-22, owing to the high cost of developing new software. If the F-22 had the F-35's black boxes, adding MADL would be easier.

Making the F-22 and F-35 compatible could come with a significant price tag up front. That doesn't surprise aviation uber-reporter Bill Sweetman, who recently pointed out the high cost of "piecemeal" improvements to the F-22. "The $1.3 billion for one year’s upgrade work on the F-22 is considerably more than the entire cost of Sweden’s JAS 39C/D Gripen upgrade," Sweetman wrote, referring to Stockholm's efforts to overhaul its 100-strong fighter force.

Still, Lockheed seems reasonably confident the Air Force will opt for this upgrade and others. The company is in the process of breaking down all the workstations at its Raptor factories across the United States. The preserved tooling, plus in-depth electronic instruction manuals for its use, will be stored at an Army depot in California, ready for re-assembly the moment the Pentagon orders Raptor modifications.

(The process of shutting down the Raptor production line is the subject of my forthcoming article in *Combat Aircraft *magazine. The photos, such as the one above, alone are worth the cover price.)

Photo: Lockheed

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