The key strength of the F-22 is not its performance or stealth, but its new radar. The radar in the F-22 raptor can passively detect operating enemy aerial radars at 250 nautical miles, actively detect enemy aircraft at 120 miles (without the enemy detecting the US radar due to its "low probability of intercept" design), and guide the new extended range versions of AMRAAM to a kill at 100 nautical miles, before the enemy aircraft even knows the US Air Force is flying that day. --Stephen V Cole