How the F-22 and F-35 Would Fight the War of 2026

The stealthy fighters would use their technological edge to survive a hypothetical war against China.

A new article written by two Air Force officers outlines how the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter would perform in a future "big war" scenario. The fighters would use a combination of stealth, sensors, and networking capabilities to stay one step ahead of enemy forces. The multinational nature of the F-35 program would help the war effort of the future, too.

The pair of officers wrote this article, "Fifth Generation Air Combat: Maintaining the Joint Force Advantage" for the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, a Washington, D.C. think tank. The Tom Clancy-esque scenario they imagine takes place in 2026, when "rising tensions" in a "key region abroad" escalate into a full-blown war. The enemy is never explicitly named but its arsenal, including cyber attacks, ballistic missiles, and an advanced integrated air defense system, has all the hallmarks of China's People's Liberation Army.

Chinese HQ-9 long range surface-to-air missiles.

In the scenario, the F-22 and F-35 negate the enemy's arsenal through a deft combination of technology and tactics. In the first days of the war, the U.S. assumes the enemy's air defense network to be so dangerous only stealthy planes have a chance to survive. Older planes, such as the B-52 and F-15E, must stay away from the theater until their stealthier younger brothers degrade those air defenses.

The authors anticipate the enemy launching ballistic missile strikes on America's airfields. To counter them, U.S. fighters fly to a number of smaller military and even civilian airfields throughout the region. The networking capabilities of both the F-22 and F-35 allow them to coordinate and fight together even when dispersed through a wide geographic area.

Networking would also allow the fighters to stay in the war with minimal mission planning. The old days of cocky, confident fighter pilots sitting in ready rooms planning a dangerous mission may be gone forever. In this new scenario, fighters take off from airfields knowing little more than the distance to their target. They find out "tanker, threat, and target information" while in the air.

According to the authors, the wide array of sensors deployed on both the F-22 and F-35 would allow a sort of "crowdsourced" picture of the battlefield. Secure links would allow data to be pushed upstream to the Combined Air Operations Center headquarters. The more flights by the two warplanes, the more detailed a picture of the enemy can be assembled.

The authors also believe the multinational nature of the F-35 will be a plus in wartime. The commonality of the aircraft, parts, training, and maintenance procedures will make it easier to share resources. In the authors' scenario, a U.S. Air Force F-35 is forced to land at a Royal Australian Air Force base, and the Australian F-35 maintainers quickly repair the plane and get it on its way. In another imagined scene, a U.S. ground crew is killed in a missile strike and allied servicemen fill in until American replacements arrive.

The scenario is an realistic one, and the authors do a good job of pitching strengths of the F-22 and F-35 forces against enemy (Chinese) weaknesses without invoking unrealistic, pie-in-the-sky concepts. It's a compelling, and plausible, look at how a future war might be fought. Let's just hope the planes—and the high-tech capabilities that win the war of 2026—are delivered on time and as promised.

Source: Defense One

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