U.S. F-22 Raptor Tests New Low-Observable Sensor Pods During Aggressive Flight Maneuvers.

The U.S. Air Force has been seen pushing an F-22A Raptor fitted with low-observable underwing sensor pods through aggressive maneuvers near Edwards Air Force Base, according to imagery shared by Mojave Planespotting on September 25, 2026. The flights suggest testing is moving beyond basic carriage toward proving whether new passive sensors can remain effective during demanding combat maneuvering, potentially giving the Raptor another way to detect and track threats without relying on active radar.

The configuration could expand the F-22’s ability to hunt low-observable aircraft in contested airspace by combining infrared or electro-optical sensing with its radar, electronic-support systems, and offboard targeting data. If successfully integrated, such passive sensing would strengthen the Raptor’s survivability and targeting flexibility while supporting the broader shift toward networked, emission-controlled air combat ahead of the F-47 era.

Related Topic: U.S. Tests F-22 Raptor with Stealth Fuel Tanks and Sensor Pods for Long-Range Missions in Contested Airspace

A U.S. Air Force F-22A Raptor maneuvers aggressively near Edwards Air Force Base while carrying distinctive low-observable-shaped underwing sensor pods, highlighting ongoing flight testing associated with efforts to expand the stealth fighter’s passive sensing capabilities (Picture Sources: @Mojave Planespotting and @stinkjet)

On September 25, 2026, a new sequence of imagery shared by Mojave Planespotting showed an F-22A Raptor maneuvering aggressively near Edwards Air Force Base while carrying the same distinctive low-observable-shaped underwing pods observed only days earlier. The photographs follow September 19 imagery of an F-22 using the callsign FEVER21, shared by aviation photographer @stinkjet, which provided unusually clear views of two external pods together with distinctive light-colored panels across portions of the fighter’s underside. Taken alongside earlier 2026 sightings and official U.S. acquisition documents, the latest imagery provides further evidence that the Air Force is pushing new passive-sensing capabilities through an increasingly consequential phase of F-22 flight testing. The timing is particularly noteworthy because the publicly documented F-22 Sensor Enhancements program is reaching a critical acquisition transition during the same period.

From FEVER21 to Aggressive Edwards Maneuvers: Signs of an Expanding Flight-Test Envelope

The September 19 photographs showed an F-22 Raptor operating under the radio callsign FEVER21 flying over California’s Aerospace Valley with two angular pods mounted beneath its outer wing stations. At least one pod appeared to incorporate a transparent forward aperture consistent with an infrared or other electro-optical sensor, although the U.S. Air Force has not publicly disclosed the exact function, internal architecture or division of roles between the two housings. The aircraft was subsequently observed with an F-16 and refueling from the Edwards-based NKC-135 GHOST81, a specialized tanker associated with developmental test support. Just as intriguing were unusually light-colored areas around parts of the weapons-bay doors and lower engine-region surfaces. Their function remains unidentified: replacement panels, instrumentation-related modifications and experimental low-observable materials or surface treatments are all possible explanations, but photography alone cannot determine which, if any, applies.

The September 25 imagery shared by Mojave Planespotting adds a more important clue than the pods’ appearance alone: the aircraft was photographed carrying the configuration while performing comparatively aggressive maneuvers around Edwards AFB. The images cannot establish the specific test cards, airspeed, angle of attack or g-loading involved, but energetic maneuvering can expose an externally mounted system to aerodynamic loads, vibration, buffet and aeroelastic conditions that are less demanding during straightforward carriage sorties. For an infrared or electro-optical sensor, dynamic flying can additionally help characterize line-of-sight stabilization, boresight retention and sensor performance as aircraft attitude and airflow change rapidly. The September 25 sequence could indicate evaluation of the configuration across a broader portion of the Raptor’s usable flight envelope rather than simple compatibility or straight-and-level carriage testing. Importantly, the timing coincides with the closing stage of the Air Force’s current F-22 Sensor Enhancements rapid-fielding effort, which GAO said was expected to complete its Middle Tier of Acquisition phase by September 2026 after earlier hardware problems compressed the available flight-test period.

Passive Detection Could Reshape How the Raptor Hunts in Contested Airspace

The operational rationale for giving the F-22 an infrared search-and-track capability extends beyond the familiar advantage of detecting targets without transmitting radar energy. IRST observes a different physical signature from radar, allowing a fighter to search for and maintain tracks through infrared emissions and thermal contrast while remaining electronically passive. This can be particularly valuable during emissions-controlled operations or against aircraft designed to reduce their radar signatures. Infrared sensing has its own limitations, including atmospheric conditions, background clutter, geometry and the difficulty of deriving precise range from a single passive sensor, but when fused with radar, electronic-support measures and offboard information it gives the pilot a second phenomenology through which to build the battlespace picture. A modernized F-22 with an additional passive detection channel would be less dependent on any single sensing method in an environment where radar, communications and electronic warfare systems are all likely to be actively contested.

The acquisition evidence behind that modernization effort is increasingly substantial. GAO reported that an earlier F-22 rapid-prototyping effort conducted six sensor-enhancement flight demonstrations in 2024, initially with hardware operating independently from the aircraft’s other systems. The follow-on F-22 Sensor Enhancements, or SeE, rapid-fielding program was subsequently established to move toward integrated capability. In its July 2026 assessment, GAO said the first flight test with sensor-enhancement hardware installed on an F-22 had slipped from March to May following a subcomponent failure that delayed hardware deliveries, reducing the time available for testing before the planned September completion of the current acquisition phase. The Air Force has meanwhile procured hardware in advance for 30 sensor-enhancement sets, accepting concurrency risk while gathering the flight-test data required for production decisions. Separately, a 2024 Pentagon contract awarded Raytheon up to $1.045 billion for F-22 Sensor Enhancements Group B hardware, spares and support equipment through 2029, demonstrating that the effort extends well beyond a limited experimental installation.

From March’s Stealth Tanks to F-47: The Raptor as an Air-Dominance Technology Bridge

The September configuration also fits a developmental pattern visible much earlier in the year. Army Recognition Group reported on March 23, 2026, following imagery captured by aviation photographer Jarod Hamilton on March 21, that an F-22A had flown with stealth-shaped external fuel tanks and faceted mission pods, including one featuring an apparent infrared or electro-optical aperture. Army Recognition assessed that this arrangement appeared intended to address two important operational limitations simultaneously: survivable range and passive target acquisition. Lower-observable fuel tanks could increase persistence while reducing the signature penalty associated with conventional external tanks, while passive sensing could allow the Raptor to search for airborne targets without relying continuously on active radar. Army Recognition had also reported a Lockheed Martin F-22 display model showing similar low-observable tanks and sensor pods at the February 2026 AFA Warfare Symposium, giving the subsequent March and September flight imagery a wider developmental context.

External sensor carriage is especially attractive for the F-22 because it could introduce substantial new capability without requiring the extensive structural changes associated with cutting additional apertures into an airframe whose low-observable geometry was established decades ago. Such pods still create additional surfaces, junctions and aerodynamic interactions, meaning that low-observable shaping should not be interpreted as signature-neutral; rather, the objective would be to manage the radar-signature penalty sufficiently that the operational benefit outweighs the cost. The paired configuration is also noteworthy because public imagery does not establish whether both housings contain identical sensors or whether one could perform processing, communications, electronic-warfare or another supporting function. The light-colored underside panels introduce a separate unresolved question. If they are connected with low-observable material testing, and no public evidence currently proves that they are, the relevant objectives could include not only radar-signature performance but also durability, repairability and reduced maintenance burden. The apparent external sensor effort should additionally be distinguished from the F-22’s separate Infrared Defensive System, for which Lockheed Martin received a $270 million contract to integrate distributed embedded TacIRST sensors intended primarily to enhance survivability and threat detection.

The wider significance is that the United States is continuing to extract combat utility from an aircraft designed in an earlier technological era rather than simply allowing the F-22 to serve unchanged until its successor arrives. Passive sensors, improved electronic protection, new communications, signature-conscious external fuel carriage and continuing software modernization could give the Raptor greater persistence and sensing flexibility against increasingly sophisticated air and missile threats. That matters while the Air Force simultaneously advances the F-47, the crewed centerpiece of the Next Generation Air Dominance family of systems. The F-47 entered Engineering and Manufacturing Development following Boeing’s selection in 2025, while the Air Force has stated that experimental aircraft underpinning the program had already flown hundreds of hours to mature concepts involving stealth, range, autonomous systems and future operational employment. Air Force leadership has continued in 2026 to describe F-22 upgrades and F-47 development as parallel elements of maintaining current combat credibility while preparing the next generation of air dominance.

A direct technological connection between the photographed F-22 equipment and the F-47 has not been publicly demonstrated, making any claim that these pods are explicitly testing F-47 hardware premature. The more defensible hypothesis is conceptual: the Raptor can serve as a risk-reduction bridge for technologies and operational methods that will matter to future air-dominance systems even if the specific hardware never migrates to the F-47. Flight experience with passive target acquisition, multi-sensor fusion, low-observable external carriage and networked targeting can inform tactics, requirements and integration lessons before next-generation aircraft reach operational units. A separate Lockheed Martin demonstration on September 16, 2026 illustrates the direction in which passive sensing is already moving: two F-16s equipped with Legion IRST systems successfully exchanged data through a pod-to-pod link, using shared passive-sensor information to improve track accuracy. There is no public evidence tying that demonstration to the F-22 pods, but it highlights a broader evolution from stand-alone IRST toward cooperative passive sensing, where separated aircraft can combine observations to improve targeting geometry without depending exclusively on active radar emissions.

The September sightings turn what might otherwise appear to be an unusual external configuration into a more consequential pattern of developmental activity. FEVER21’s September 19 appearance established another clear public sighting of the two faceted sensor pods while also exposing unexplained changes on portions of the aircraft’s underside; the September 25 Mojave Planespotting imagery then showed a similarly configured Raptor being maneuvered aggressively in the Edwards test environment. When those observations are placed alongside the March configuration documented by Army Recognition Group and GAO’s official 2026 timeline for integrated F-22 sensor-enhancement testing, the strongest evidence-based assessment is that the Air Force is actively working to expand the Raptor’s sensing architecture while evaluating new hardware under progressively more representative flight conditions. The precise identity and function of the photographed pods nevertheless remain undisclosed, and no imagery by itself can confirm the individual objectives of a particular Edwards sortie.

For a fighter whose basic design emerged from the final decades of the Cold War, that modernization strategy is significant. Rather than attempting to rebuild the F-22 around an entirely new internal sensor architecture, the Air Force appears to be pursuing a combination of modular hardware, software integration and signature-conscious improvements capable of keeping the aircraft operationally relevant during the transition toward the F-47 era. The unanswered questions, what precisely resides inside each pod, whether both pods perform the same role, what explains the light-colored underside surfaces and how broadly the new sensor capability will ultimately be fielded, remain central. Yet the September 25 maneuvering provides an important new clue: whatever configuration is being evaluated, the effort appears to have progressed beyond simply proving that hardware can be carried beneath an F-22. The Raptor is increasingly serving not merely as an aging fifth-generation fighter awaiting replacement, but as an active developmental platform for the passive, networked and signature-conscious air-combat concepts that will shape the transition to the next era of U.S. air dominance.

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Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group

Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.