It is one of the most sophisticated fighter aircraft ever constructed, but the F-22 Raptor still has a human hand on the throttle. The enduring myth that it can “fly itself” reflects less on an undisclosed artificial pilot than on the sophistication of its onboard processing computers that integrate radar returns, infrared signatures, and electronic emissions into one, coherent image to present to the pilot. This sensor integration, fifth-generation avionics’ defining characteristic, decreases mental workload and enables the pilot to respond more quickly and make better-informed decisions, but it shortstops of substituting for them.
The changing role is that of the Raptor in an increasingly dynamic battlespace. Starting in Fiscal Year 2026, the U.S. Air Force will equip 142 combat-coded F-22s with ruggedized, tablet-style control kits, each priced around $86,000, to allow direct control of AI-driven Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) from the cockpit. These “loyal wingman” unmanned aerial vehicles like General Atomics’ YFQ-42A and Anduril’s YFQ-44A are being engineered to scout ahead, jam adversary sensors, or deliver precision strikes, expanding the reach and survivability of the manned aircraft. The probable communications backbone will be the Raptor’s jam-resistant, secure Inter-Flight Data Link, which has already been used for intra-fleet data exchange.
Lockheed Martin has shown that one pilot can send tactical instructions to multiple UAVs through a touchscreen display, but the operational problem is not trivial. As one industry official said, “It was really hard to fly the airplane, let alone manage the weapon system and think spatially and temporally about the other thing.” The Air Force views the tablet integration as a stepping stone, with more deeply embedded control systems to come as manned-unmanned teaming comes of age.
This transition is not happening in a vacuum. The Raptor modernization plan also features the integration of the Infrared Defensive System (IRDS), a distributed set of TacIRST sensors for detection and tracking heat-emitting threats. “We understand the need for advanced and versatile infrared systems like IRDS that will make pilots’ missions more survivable and lethal against current and future adversaries,” said Hank Tucker, vice president at Lockheed Martin Mission Systems. These upgrades validate the plane’s air dominance mission while laying the groundwork for more intricate, networked operations.
Training also is changing in tandem. F-22 pilots now engage AI-powered “virtual enemies” in simulators and augmented reality, an idea first developed in systems such as Red 6’s Airborne Tactical Augmented Reality System (ATARS). By simulating intelligent, evasive aggressors into a pilot’s actual on-board field of view in flight, these systems recreate the cognitive challenge of combat without the cost or availability limitations of live threat aircraft. The AlphaDogfight Trials by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency proved the capabilities of reinforcement learning algorithms to outperform human pilots in simulation, highlighting the utility of these training systems for honing tactics and decision-making.
Even with these gains, top Air Force officials warn, fully autonomous fighter operations are still a long way off. Brig. Gen. Doug Wickert, who manages AI piloting tests at the 412th Test Wing, has indicated, “There may be someday we can completely rely on robotized warfare, [but] it is centuries away.” Current AI systems excel at narrow, well-defined tasks but can make “unexpected” decisions in complex, real-world scenarios, a deficiency that retains a human in the decision-making loop for lethal missions.
The manned-unmanned teaming concept developing around the F-22 represents a realistic combination of human intuition and machine velocity. AI-powered drones can take risk, fly in packs, and perform maneuvers unfettered by human physiology, while the pilot directs the battle from a wide tactical perspective. In a time when the Air Force fleet is smaller and older than at any time since World War II, CCAs present an option to regain mass and flexibility without the economically unfeasible expense of adding more manned fighters.
By combining the Raptor’s stealth, supercruise, and integrated avionics with the flexibility of AI-driven wingmen, the Air Force is positioning its most advanced jet not as an artifact of the previous generation, but as a command node in an architecture of distributed, data-driven battlespace. The pilot stays in the cockpit but more and more, he or she won’t be flying solo.
