F-22 Raptor Showcases Air Superiority Capabilities at NAS Oceana 2025 Airshow
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The U.S. Air Force’s F-22 Raptor fighter jet delivered a dynamic aerial demonstration during the 2025 NAS Oceana Air Show, displaying precision maneuvers and stealth performance. The event underscored the fighter’s enduring role in maintaining U.S. air superiority nearly two decades after its operational debut.The U.S. Air Force reaffirmed its commitment to air dominance during an F-22 Raptor demonstration at the 2025 NAS Oceana Air Show, where the fifth-generation fighter executed high-agility maneuvers that highlighted its unmatched control and stealth. Nearly twenty years after entering service, the F-22 remains the cornerstone of America’s air superiority strategy, combining speed, precision, and situational awareness that continue to outpace evolving threats.Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor executing a high-agility flight demonstration during the NAS Oceana Air Show in Virginia, September 20, 2025. (Picture source: U.S. Department of War)
At the heart of the F-22 Raptor’s performance is a synthesis of stealth, speed, sensor fusion, and extreme agility. All of these features are engineered into an airframe that remains highly survivable in contested environments. Its stealth design is not merely about radar signature reduction. It incorporates broad-spectrum low observability, radar-absorbing materials, internal weapons carriage, edge-aligned surfaces, and infrared signature suppression, all of which work in concert to make the aircraft virtually undetectable until it is already inside weapons range.
During the demo, the Raptor executed a full spectrum of high-G maneuvers, including vertical climbs, tight loops, tail slides, and high-alpha passes. These showcased not only its aerodynamic authority but the unique performance envelope enabled by thrust-vectoring nozzles. The aircraft’s twin Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 engines produce up to 70,000 pounds of thrust, allowing sustained supersonic cruise at Mach 1.5 without afterburners (supercruise) and superior energy retention during aerial combat.
What truly sets the F-22 apart from legacy platforms is its ability to deliver sensor fusion and decision superiority to the pilot. The Raptor integrates a powerful AN/APG-77 AESA radar, electronic warfare suite, and advanced data links into a single cockpit interface. This gives pilots a seamless battlespace picture, allowing them to prioritize threats and launch weapons without compromising position. Even during dynamic airshow maneuvers, this data integration functions continuously, offering real-time threat awareness and aircraft system optimization.
The aircraft’s internal weapons bays preserve its low observability while maintaining combat lethality. It can carry up to six AIM-120 AMRAAMs and two AIM-9 Sidewinders internally, delivering stealthy first-shot, first-kill capability at beyond-visual-range (BVR). In a strike configuration, it can also deploy precision-guided JDAMs while retaining air-to-air capability, providing multi-role flexibility in anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) theaters.
While the F-22 has not been produced since 2012, it continues to evolve. The current fleet is being modernized through the Raptor Agile Capability Release (RACR) initiative. These iterative software and hardware updates include improvements to electronic warfare resilience, enhanced sensor integration, and new data links compatible with Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2). The Raptor is also being integrated with next-generation weapons, including the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM), designed to counter long-range air-to-air threats such as China’s PL-15 and Russia’s R-37M.
Despite the rise of near-peer competitors, including China’s J-20 and Russia’s Su-57, neither has demonstrated the maturity, agility, or low-observable characteristics proven by the F-22. Its close-in maneuverability remains unmatched, particularly in high-angle-of-attack engagements where thrust-vectoring and control authority can decide the outcome of a dogfight.
Just as importantly, the Raptor is fully integrated into the Air Force’s expeditionary strategy. It supports agile combat employment (ACE) operations, with forward deployments across the Indo-Pacific and European theaters. In these scenarios, it functions as the tip of the spear—clearing airspace, neutralizing surface threats, and enabling follow-on forces across domains.
The Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, still largely classified, is expected to field a family of systems by the early 2030s, including a sixth-generation manned fighter, autonomous collaborative combat aircraft, and advanced mission systems. While development is accelerating under rapid acquisition pathways, senior leaders have acknowledged that NGAD is not yet ready to assume the air dominance mantle. Until then, the F-22 remains the only operational platform capable of executing high-risk, first-day-of-war penetration missions against peer adversaries in contested airspace.
Its appearance over NAS Oceana was not simply a display of airshow precision. It was a visible component of the U.S. Air Force’s broader deterrence architecture. As pacing threats from China and Russia continue to shape regional force posture in the Indo-Pacific and Eastern Europe, the F-22 Raptor remains the frontline tool for gaining and holding air superiority in denied environments. With NGAD not expected to reach operational fielding until the early 2030s, the Raptor will continue to serve as the critical bridge between today’s contested airspace realities and the sixth-generation capabilities of the next decade.Written by Alain Servaes – Chief Editor, Army Recognition GroupAlain Servaes is a former infantry non-commissioned officer and the founder of Army Recognition. With over 20 years in defense journalism, he provides expert analysis on military equipment, NATO operations, and the global defense industry.
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The U.S. Air Force’s F-22 Raptor fighter jet delivered a dynamic aerial demonstration during the 2025 NAS Oceana Air Show, displaying precision maneuvers and stealth performance. The event underscored the fighter’s enduring role in maintaining U.S. air superiority nearly two decades after its operational debut.
The U.S. Air Force reaffirmed its commitment to air dominance during an F-22 Raptor demonstration at the 2025 NAS Oceana Air Show, where the fifth-generation fighter executed high-agility maneuvers that highlighted its unmatched control and stealth. Nearly twenty years after entering service, the F-22 remains the cornerstone of America’s air superiority strategy, combining speed, precision, and situational awareness that continue to outpace evolving threats.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor executing a high-agility flight demonstration during the NAS Oceana Air Show in Virginia, September 20, 2025. (Picture source: U.S. Department of War)
At the heart of the F-22 Raptor’s performance is a synthesis of stealth, speed, sensor fusion, and extreme agility. All of these features are engineered into an airframe that remains highly survivable in contested environments. Its stealth design is not merely about radar signature reduction. It incorporates broad-spectrum low observability, radar-absorbing materials, internal weapons carriage, edge-aligned surfaces, and infrared signature suppression, all of which work in concert to make the aircraft virtually undetectable until it is already inside weapons range.
During the demo, the Raptor executed a full spectrum of high-G maneuvers, including vertical climbs, tight loops, tail slides, and high-alpha passes. These showcased not only its aerodynamic authority but the unique performance envelope enabled by thrust-vectoring nozzles. The aircraft’s twin Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 engines produce up to 70,000 pounds of thrust, allowing sustained supersonic cruise at Mach 1.5 without afterburners (supercruise) and superior energy retention during aerial combat.
What truly sets the F-22 apart from legacy platforms is its ability to deliver sensor fusion and decision superiority to the pilot. The Raptor integrates a powerful AN/APG-77 AESA radar, electronic warfare suite, and advanced data links into a single cockpit interface. This gives pilots a seamless battlespace picture, allowing them to prioritize threats and launch weapons without compromising position. Even during dynamic airshow maneuvers, this data integration functions continuously, offering real-time threat awareness and aircraft system optimization.
The aircraft’s internal weapons bays preserve its low observability while maintaining combat lethality. It can carry up to six AIM-120 AMRAAMs and two AIM-9 Sidewinders internally, delivering stealthy first-shot, first-kill capability at beyond-visual-range (BVR). In a strike configuration, it can also deploy precision-guided JDAMs while retaining air-to-air capability, providing multi-role flexibility in anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) theaters.
While the F-22 has not been produced since 2012, it continues to evolve. The current fleet is being modernized through the Raptor Agile Capability Release (RACR) initiative. These iterative software and hardware updates include improvements to electronic warfare resilience, enhanced sensor integration, and new data links compatible with Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2). The Raptor is also being integrated with next-generation weapons, including the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM), designed to counter long-range air-to-air threats such as China’s PL-15 and Russia’s R-37M.
Despite the rise of near-peer competitors, including China’s J-20 and Russia’s Su-57, neither has demonstrated the maturity, agility, or low-observable characteristics proven by the F-22. Its close-in maneuverability remains unmatched, particularly in high-angle-of-attack engagements where thrust-vectoring and control authority can decide the outcome of a dogfight.
Just as importantly, the Raptor is fully integrated into the Air Force’s expeditionary strategy. It supports agile combat employment (ACE) operations, with forward deployments across the Indo-Pacific and European theaters. In these scenarios, it functions as the tip of the spear—clearing airspace, neutralizing surface threats, and enabling follow-on forces across domains.
The Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, still largely classified, is expected to field a family of systems by the early 2030s, including a sixth-generation manned fighter, autonomous collaborative combat aircraft, and advanced mission systems. While development is accelerating under rapid acquisition pathways, senior leaders have acknowledged that NGAD is not yet ready to assume the air dominance mantle. Until then, the F-22 remains the only operational platform capable of executing high-risk, first-day-of-war penetration missions against peer adversaries in contested airspace.
Its appearance over NAS Oceana was not simply a display of airshow precision. It was a visible component of the U.S. Air Force’s broader deterrence architecture. As pacing threats from China and Russia continue to shape regional force posture in the Indo-Pacific and Eastern Europe, the F-22 Raptor remains the frontline tool for gaining and holding air superiority in denied environments. With NGAD not expected to reach operational fielding until the early 2030s, the Raptor will continue to serve as the critical bridge between today’s contested airspace realities and the sixth-generation capabilities of the next decade.
Written by Alain Servaes – Chief Editor, Army Recognition Group
Alain Servaes is a former infantry non-commissioned officer and the founder of Army Recognition. With over 20 years in defense journalism, he provides expert analysis on military equipment, NATO operations, and the global defense industry.
