An F-22 Raptor flies across a digital map of the United States from New York to Los Angeles Illustration by Jonathan H. Kantor from Lockheed Martin photo
People who are even remotely aware of a fighter jet's capabilities likely know they're pretty fast. Modern fighters can fly at Mach 1.8 and faster, zipping around the sky at incredible speeds. Of course, every fighter jet is different, and each has its own specifications, so many factors determine how long it would take for a fighter to fly across the country. To determine the time needed, it's best to focus on a specific distance, like from New York City to Los Angeles.
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Those cities are 2,788 miles apart by car, but aircraft don't have to stick to winding highways. The distance a fighter jet would need to fly to reach LA from New York is 2,445 miles. But there's more that needs to be considered, because none of the United States' fighter jets can make that distance without refueling — although actually stopping to top off their gas tanks isn't always necessary, as many American military aircraft can refuel in the air.
So if we look into a few fighters and compare their capabilities, it's clear that each has a specific amount of time needed to travel the distance including refueling, and they're all slightly different. Legacy aircraft from the 20th century, like the F-15 Strike Eagle, are remarkably fast, but how might they compare to newer fighters like the F-22 and F-35?
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The F-15E Strike Eagle
The F-15E Strike Eagle flying over blue skies Vanderwolf-images/Getty Images
The F-15E Strike Eagle is an updated, advanced fourth-generation fighter-bomber that's been around in one form or another since the 1970s. Numerous countries around the world operate F-15s, and they're superior planes that have served in numerous campaigns. These days, the U.S. operates far fewer F-15s than it did during their height, but they remain fast and agile, with impressive capabilities.
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The F-15E features two Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-220 or 229 engines capable of propelling the fighter at speeds in excess of Mach 2.5 (1,875 mph). Of course, that's the F-15E's top speed, but it isn't sustainable for the entirety of a cross-country flight. The F-15E's cruising speed is 575 mph, which is likely the speed it would fly across the country. With conformal fuel tanks fitted to the plane's profile and three external fuel tanks, the F-15E can fly 2,400 miles — almost 50 miles short of the total distance, so it would require aerial refueling.
That process takes five to 10 minutes, so conservatively, refueling will pad 10 minutes onto the flight time. To cover the distance with the added time for refueling, an F-15E would have to fly for four hours and 25 minutes. That calculation doesn't take into account other aircraft en route, nor does it factor in wind speed, the time to take off and land, or other external considerations — it's merely the minimum amount of time the aircraft requires to cover the distance from New York to Los Angeles.
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The F-22 Raptor
The F-22 Raptor flying over blue and cloudy skies Kevin Burkholder/Getty Images
The F-22 Raptor is the world's first fifth-generation fighter aircraft, so it presents a good comparison between the generations. The F-22 is a supersonic twin-engine stealth fighter designed to conduct all manner of missions, from ground attack and air superiority to electronic warfare and intelligence collection. The F-22 uses two Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 turbofan engines, each capable of delivering 35,000 pounds of thrust.
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At its maximum speed, the F-22 can fly up to Mach 2.25 (1,726 mph), making it slightly slower than the F-15E Strike Eagle. What the F-22 has over the legacy fighter is a supercruise feature, which sets its cruising speed at a staggering Mach 1.5+ (over 1,150 mph) — significantly faster than most fighters' cruising speeds. This makes cross-country distances much quicker to travel, though maintaining supercruise for long eats up fuel.
An F-22 Raptor with two external fuel tanks can fly just over 1,850 miles. Fortunately, aerial refueling is a possibility, and it takes an average of 10 minutes to top off the tanks. It would take the F-22 two hours and 17 minutes to cross the country at sustained supercruise speed. That's entirely theoretical, as maintaining supercruise for that distance would eat up too much fuel. The F-22's standard cruising speed is 690 mph, so the distance would realistically take three hours and 42 minutes to fly.
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The F-35A Lightning II
The F-35C Lightning II flying over cloudy skies Rancho_runner/Getty Images
The F-35 Lightning II is the most advanced fifth-generation fighter jet in the world. It's also relatively new, having been introduced into the inventory in 2015, and there are several versions. The Marines operate the F-35B, the Navy flies the F-35C, and the Air Force uses the the fastest configuration, the F-35A. These variants meet each service's unique challenges, but as a group the F-35 quickly became the preeminent fighter jet flown by the U.S. and its allies.
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The F-35A features a single Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-100 turbofan engine, the same engine found on the other variants. It provides 43,000 pounds of thrust, letting the fighter reach speeds in excess of Mach 1.6 (1,227.63 mph). The aircraft's cruise speed is Mach 0.86 (659 mph), which is how fast it would fly to cross the country. The F-35A has a range of 1,350 miles, which is all accomplished via internal fuel tanks, as American F-35s lack external tanks.
Refueling takes about as long as it does for other fighters, so by adding 10 minutes to the total time, it would take an F-35A three hours and 52 minutes to fly from New York to Los Angeles. While that's right between the F-15E and F-22's flight times, the F-35A features a single engine, while the others have two. The F135-PW-100 is the most advanced single-engine used in a modern fighter, which more than makes up for the distance needed to cross the nation quickly.
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