America's F-22 Stealth Fighter vs. Russia's PAK-FA: Who Wins? ( Source- The National Interest / Author- Dave Majumdar)
Image credits- Lockheed Martin Source- The National Interest Author- Dave Majumdar This year marks a decade since the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor was declared operational with the U.S. Air Force. Billed by many as the most capable air superiority fighter ever built, the Raptor only recently proved its mettle in combat over Syria and Iraq about a year ago. But the jet wasn’t used to annihilate a Soviet air armada over the Fulda Gap or rip apart an advanced enemy integrated air defense system as its designers had envisioned. Instead, the Raptor has most been relegated to the role of a flying sensor platform. Nonetheless, the day is coming when the F-22 could face a foe that might have a chance of going toe-to-toe with it and winning—albeit a small one. Russia and China are hard at work developing the Chengdu J-20 and the Sukhoi T-50 PAK-FA. Of these two machines, the PAK-FA is probably the more serious challenger. Despite the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia has