There is intentionally not a lot of public knowledge released on the F-22. All aircraft are constantly retrofitted and upgraded to remain modern and relevant. Huge huge huge amounts of money are spent on this. Hell, the B-52 is still in service today and it was released in 1952. I can't say for certain, but I would be surprised if the F-22's in operation today have as-advanced or more advanced capabilities than the F-35. Just because they are older does not mean they are running older tech. They'll gut the entire cockpit and drop in a new one no problemo.

The F-22 is frighteningly capable, by all accounts, when it comes to stuff like NATO exercises and Red Flag. AFAIK they haven't lost any flying attack missions against rebels in Yemen, which might or might not be proof of anything.

It's not going to have next-generation stuff like Multifunction Advanced Data Link. I assume that's because of its older avionics, and because it has been deemed not worth upgrading. [0]

It's not my area of expertise but it's probably accurate to say that the F-22 is stronger than anything at its specialized, traditional air superiority mission but it will be left behind when it comes to flying alongside drones and other interceptors. The F-15EX and F-35, along with unmanned drones, will be able to do amazing things in concert by communicating with one another over their network. That is a different paradigm.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multifunctional_Information_Di...

The F-22 flew over Jemen? Didn't know that... But then, the only really contested air spaces were Iraq, Serbia (both before the F-22, and the latter let to the retirement of the F-117) and now Ukraine. In all other cases, NATO and other forces had complete air superiority. And under these conditions, WW2 planes would do the job.

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F-22 isn't even competitive in the pure mission statement since its air-to-ground capabilities are very limited - it was built for pure air superiority and its very poor as a multirole fighter.

That's a big factor for countries that can't afford BOTH air superiority and ground support craft.

F-35 is just... a pretty good airplane for a pretty good price.

The F-22 is still being upgraded. It has better air-to-ground capabilities than it used to, and the electronics and software is being upgraded, too.

It's still probably the Ultimate Fighter.

Also, it's not operating alone. Wherever there is an F22, you should expect to also find other assets, including the F35. The F22 is just the tip of the spear, to be committed when it's speed or manouverability is required.