Share and Follow
Renowned as the world’s premier air-superiority fighter, the American F-22 Raptor possesses an impressive combination of speed, agility, and stealth. Its capabilities are so advanced that the United States refrains from selling it even to its closest allies—a level of exclusivity not shared with the F-35. The only drawback is the limited number of F-22s, compounded by the cessation of their production. As a result, attention is shifting toward the development of the F-47 to fulfill future needs.
This focus on advanced aircraft forms part of a broader strategy to bolster military capabilities in the Middle East, a region where strategic strength is paramount.
Given its exceptional attributes, the deployment of the F-22 is a decision made with considerable forethought, underscoring its significance in maintaining air superiority.
A dozen American F-22 Raptor fighter jets, representing more than $4 billion of military spending, have arrived at an Israeli Air Force base amid a massive buildup of US military hardware in the Middle East.
The planes, widely considered the best in the world due to their speed and stealth, arrived in the Jewish state Tuesday evening as tensions with Iran soar, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Designed by Lockheed Martin, the F-22s cost around $350 million each, and are so vital to the US that the Pentagon has forbidden their sale or license to any foreign government.
The dozen jets were previously stationed at the RAF Lakenheath base in southern England and were seen taking off earlier on Tuesday, the Times of Israel reported.
This is part of a buildup of military assets in the Middle East; one might even call it a big, beautiful buildup.
F-22 and F-35 fighter jets, along with B-2 bombers, were used in June 2025’s Operation Midnight Hammer, in which the US struck three Iranian nuclear sites.
More than 300 US military aircraft are currently deployed across the Middle East, according to open-source intelligence monitoring and publicly available flight data.
The jets arrived just days after the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, arrived on Israel’s coast ahead of Thursday’s scheduled nuclear talks between the US and Iran in Geneva, Switzerland.
The F-22, of all these assets, is one we don’t deploy lightly.