Massive Combat Range Boost for F-22 Stealth And Other Stealth Fighters

 

This is really about retaining your spare tank to the end in stealth mode.  all such planes operate within the same range envelope.

The focus on stealth may be unsustainable in the face of advancing sensing tech and a drone dense environment.

My real conceern is the limitation of human reaction speeds.  overcome this and nothing remains safe.  and everyone has figured out the problem

Massive Combat Range Boost for F-22 Stealth And Other Stealth Fighters

February 24, 2026 by Brian Wang

The new Low Drag Tank and Pylon (LDTP) system for the F-22 can (and likely will, in adapted form) be used on the F-47 (Boeing’s NGAD sixth-gen fighter), F-35, and other stealth platforms to significantly boost range options while keeping stealth at a reasonable high level for contested operations. This is based on the program’s design goals, Lockheed Martin’s own statements, and the broader push for Pacific-range stealth fighters.

The number one complaint for many stealth planes are the limited internal fuel/range in vast theaters like the Indo-Pacific.

What Are These “Stealth” Low-Drag Tanks?

The LDTP program (also called “stealthy fuel tanks”) replaces the F-22’s standard non-stealth 600-gallon external drop tanks. Key features from recent photos, official art, and the Sandboxx video you linked (uploaded today, Feb 24, 2026, showing the best public look yet):Low-drag, low-observable shaping: Faceted/stealth-optimized contours + radar-absorbent materials (RAM) to minimize RCS and wave drag.

Supersonic-capable and maneuver-hardened: Can stay attached during air combat maneuvering (ACM) and supercruise — they’re semi-permanent for combat missions, not just ferry/drop-before-fight.

Clean jettison of tanks. If dropped (via smart pneumatic pylons), the attachment points leave almost no RCS (stealth( penalty vs. a clean F-22. Regular drop tanks leave radar visible plumbing.

F-22 Range Boost and Stealth Compromises

Current baseline (internal fuel only, ~18,000 lb). Combat radius ~530 miles.

With legacy non-stealth tanks. The theoretical combat radius jumps to ~850–900+ miles, but they’re never carried into combat — they destroy RCS (by 10–100x or more), add massive drag, and limit maneuverability/supersonic flight.

The new tanks give 800+ mile combat radius while keeping the tanks on through the fight and maintaining stealth.

Applicability to F-47 (NGAD), F-35, and Other Stealth Aircraft

F-47/NGAD will get similar adapted versions. F-47 (Boeing’s sixth-gen) already has a much larger internal combat radius (over 1,000 nautical miles in many projections due to bigger airframe, better engines/efficiency). LDTP-like external low-observable stores would still give extra flexibility for ultra-long Pacific missions, ferry range, or heavy loads without fully compromising its advanced stealth.

Lockheed’s Integrated Fighter Group lead (who make the F35) said in 2023 that there is an applicability of the LDTP tanks to the F-35 and other aircraft. F-35 already gets range boosts from conformal tanks in some configs, but low-drag stealth externals would be a perfect add-on for Block 4+ or export variants — dramatically cutting tanker dependence.

The concept (stealth-shaped, low-drag, clean-jettison externals) is transferable to any LO (aka stealth) platform. It would work for stealth bombers.