F-22A King Raptor

Let's give 'em an air show!

118 (Elite)

154 (Heroic)

280 (Heroic)

Straight-Flow Engines

Stealth Upgrade

## Introduction

The **F-22A King Raptor** is the USAAF General's air superiority fighter (or interceptor). It is available as early as Rank 1.

## Overview

As the F-18 Hornet became rather obsolete for air superiority combat, Malcolm Granger decided to reallocate it to ground attack purposes and replace it with the more recent F-22A King Raptor. The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor is a fifth-generation air superiority fighter that officially entered service in 2005 and is arguably one of the best interceptors that the USAAF has got in store. As the aircraft specialist that Granger is, he even upgraded the plane to make it more effective, hence the name "King" Raptor.

Interceptors are quite a rare breed in *Contra* as there are only four of them in total:

* The GLA Zipper.
* The Chinese MiG-31 Interceptor.
* The US Air Force F-22A King Raptor.
* Ironside's Raptor.

Although there are some other air units such as the Raven and the RoboRaptor that can also fight enemy aircraft even though it is not their primary purpose.

However, the King Raptor is probably the best of its category; it will play its part as an air denial and defensive unit marvelously and few enemy aircraft can survive its attacks. Should a suicide aircraft like the GLA Dolphin try to destroy your base, send in some King Raptors to intercept it and ruin its plans. Should an assault helicopter like the Chinese Helix try to sneak into your base and start wreaking havoc, send in some King Raptors to eliminate it. Should an enemy general call for an airborne GP, send in some King Raptors to rob him/her of his/her chances of success. Not only King Raptors are extremely effective against enemy aircraft but they are also available as early as Rank 1 and you can even create five of them per Levitation Pad.

Another advantage the King Raptor possesses over the Zipper or the Foxhound is its stealth capabilities. At Rank 3, once the Stealth Coating upgrade has been purchased, the King Raptor will become invisible to enemy radar, making them far more unpredictable and dangerous.

On the other hand, you need to take in account that the King Raptor is meant for air superiority combat and defense purposes only so it is absolutely useless against ground targets and its superior speed required its armor to be lightweight; therefore, it will be particularly vulnerable to anti-air weapons. DO NOT send it against an enemy base, it won't be able to do anything other than killing their flying aircraft and you will lose it pointlessly. So stick it only to defense purposes and send it on air patrols where you think that enemy aircraft might pass by.

## Variants

General Ironside can build normal Raptors once he reaches Rank 3, they lack the stealth capabilities and Frog Missile upgrade of the King Raptor. Interestingly, the normal Raptor uses the voice lines of the King Raptor as well.

4 Raptors can be seen flying in formation around the map in Ironside's challenge, much like the B-1B, they serve as background decorations and will not pose a threat to the player, AA units will not attempt to open fire at them.

## Assessment

Pros:

* Extremely effective against air units.
* Can be produced in groups of 5 per Levitation Pad.
* Can deny enemy airborne General's Powers.
* Early game unit that's available at Rank 1, unlike other interceptors which are only unlocked at Rank 3.
* Very fast aircraft.
* Can increase its firepower and survivability via Pilots.

Cons:

* Quite expensive for a Tier 1 unit ($1,200).
* Very thin armor.
* Very vulnerable to anti-air.
* Useless against ground targets.

## Trivia

* The Raptor is a species of dinosaur.
* The real life F-22 Raptor is, unlike in the mod, no longer produced and moved to the more versatile but cost-consuming F-35 JSF. However, F-22 Raptors are still in operation.

## Gallery

King Raptors standing by on a Levitation PadThe F-22A Raptor in real life