The F-22 Raptor fighters will undergo the last large-scale modernization during their military career. Yesterday, November 6, the portal defensenews.com He reported that the US Air Force had signed a contract with Lockheed Martin to modernize the Predator fleet.
The contract worth $10.9 billion is designed for ten years. The works will include various services, including "updates, improvements and fixes of Raptor". Lockheed Martin will also provide logistics services and purchase of equipment kits for modernization. It is planned that all this will keep the aging "Predators" in combat readiness in the next decade, until they are replaced by promising fighters developed under the Next Generation Air Dominance program.
F-22 Raptor fighters
Image source: defensenews.com
The F-22 Raptor ("Predator") is a fifth-generation multirole fighter developed in 1997 by Lockheed Martin, Boeing and General Dynamics to replace the fourth-generation F-15 Eagle fighter. In 2005, the F-22 entered service with the US Air Force, during serial production (from 1997 to 2011), 187 serial units and 8 prototypes were produced. Due to the reduction of the order of the US Department of Defense from 384 to 188 units and the ban on exports, the F-22 Raptor became the most expensive serial fighter in the world — $146.2 million per aircraft.
