The F-22 Raptor is a fighter aircraft made by Lockheed Martin . It first flew in 1990 and entered service in the United States Air Force in 2005 . Because it is very expensive and dogfighting isn't common today, there aren't as many of them as other fighter planes. It is a stealth plane, which means it is very hard to see on radar . It can hold 6 radar-guided medium-range AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles and 2 heat-seeking, short-range AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles, but there are other payloads it can hold. Its top speed is 1,500 miles per hour, which is 2.2 times the speed of sound . It features thrust vectoring , where the plane's thrust nozzles turn to help turn it faster. Thrust vectoring is very useful in dogfights.

The F-22 Raptor is a 5th generation fighter and is a very expensive plane to produce. In order to protect the F-22 Raptor's stealth technology and other secrets, the U.S. has not sold the F-22 Raptor to other countries. If they do, they will be export versions and not as powerful as the ones used by the U.S.

Similar airplanes [ change | change source ]

• Su-57 - Russian counterpart of the F-22.
• F-35 - A similar American 5th generation plane, except it is a multirole jet instead of a fighter.

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