FB-22: The Air Force planned to turn the F-22 Raptor into a bomber

What you need to know: The FB-22 concept, a variant of the F-22 Raptor bomber proposed by Secretary of the Air Force James Roche in the early 2000s, aimed to transform the Raptor into a stealthy, medium-range bomber.

– Designed to penetrate air defenses and deliver precision-guided munitions, the FB-22 would have had a stretched fuselage, additional payload capacity, and possibly a second cockpit for a weapons officer.

-However, these modifications risked reducing stealth effectiveness, and range limitations limited the FB-22 to regional use.

– The Air Force ultimately abandoned this idea, choosing instead to develop the B-21 Raider. Despite its failure, the FB-22 laid the foundation for future bomber innovations.

FB-22 Raptor bomber: missed opportunity or good choice?

You know it as a fighter, but some Air Force leaders at one point planned to make it a bomber. The F-22 Raptor was planned to have a twin called the FB-22, which would be larger and perhaps just as stealthy, although not as maneuverable.

In the early to mid-2000s, the Secretary of the Air Force advocated for a bomber variant.

The program was eventually canceled, but the development of the FB-22 may have been the starting point for the B-21 Raider stealth bomber.

Not a bad idea

Then-Air Force Secretary James Roche and others came up with the idea in 2003. What if they took a stealth platform that was extremely fast and maneuverable and used it as a medium-range bomber? This would fill a hole in the arsenal. The FB-22 could fly close to enemy targets, slipping past air defenses and dropping precision-guided munitions such as the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) bomb. Roche was so excited that he wanted the Air Force to order 150 FB-22s.

The F-22 was tested as a stand-off bomber

The potential use of the F-22 JDAM was actually tested in 2006. The F-22 has expanded its ability to successfully test dropping JDAM on a target. The Raptor was flying at an altitude of 50,000 feet and a speed of MAX 1.5. The bomb was dropped at an altitude of 1,000 feet – 24 nautical miles from the target. This showed that the F-22 could attack from a distance.

It will take a lot of work

Now there was something to think about. Turning the F-22 into a full-fledged bomber would require some changes to the platform. This meant extra payload, a longer fuselage and perhaps a co-pilot/weapons officer, perhaps even a delta wing.

The added cockpit could change the stealth characteristics.

The larger payload and greater number of bombs attached could also make stealth less effective due to changes in radar-absorbing materials. The current F-22 can only contain two thousand JDAMs inside the aircraft. External bombs on the wing hardpoints would affect radar evasion. So this has become a worrying pattern.

The more changes are made, the less secrecy there will be. In addition, the F-22 would require additional fuel. Fueling was also a concern. Flying deep into enemy territory will require at least one refueling, and this will require the tanker to have a longer flight range.

FB-22: regional stealth bomber: more questions

If the FB-22 could carry nuclear weapons and be intercontinental, the changes would make sense. But the FB-22 was supposed to be a regional bomber. If it were based in Guam, could it reach Taiwan? If it were based in Germany, could it achieve Russian goals? If it were based in Qatar, could it reach Iran?

The FB-22 concept ultimately failed, and management decided to start a new bomber program, which became the B-21.

But you have to give the Air Force credit for trying. The idea was this: use the existing platform with some mature and innovative technologies instead of developing something completely new.

About the Author: Dr. Brent M. Eastwood

Brent M. EastwoodCandidate of Biological Sciences, author Men, Machines and Data: Future Trends in Warfare. He is an emerging threat expert and a former US Army infantry officer.

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