With the U.S. Air Force planning to retire the F-22 in favor of the Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, the Raptor will likely never operate from aircraft carriers.
Regardless of the F-22 Raptor’s prowess, this fifth-generation platform is incapable of landing on a carrier. In a nutshell, Air Force pilots are simply not trained to fly on aircraft carriers. In addition to this lack of training, Raptors are quite hefty, weighing roughly 45,000 pounds.
The F-22, which was designed as an air superiority fighter, made its maiden flight in 1997 and eight years later, one of the world’s most expensive warplanes entered service at the US Air Force (USAF).