F-22 Block 20

Block 20 (Basic Ground Attack / Training)

• Parent: Block 10 (incremental factory upgrade)

• Deliveries: ~2004–2006 (LRIP Lots 3–4, approximately 64 aircraft combined with Block 10 total of ~74)

• Purpose: Training with expanded capability, bridge to combat-coded fleet

• What's different from Block 10:

• • Same APG-77 radar (baseline, no SAR)
• • Added JDAM capability (GBU-32 1,000-lb) via Increment 2 software (2005)
• • Improved avionics software and mission systems
• • Still AIM-9M (no AIM-9X)
• • No helmet-mounted sight
• • Incremental improvements to LO (low-observable) maintenance coatings

• What's different from Block 30: No APG-77(V)1 radar, no SDB capability, less capable EW suite, older LO coatings. These are hardware differences baked in at the factory — you can't just software-upgrade a Block 20 into a Block 30. Key limitation: Still primarily training-coded. Some were later used operationally but were not the primary combat fleet.

By 2020, Block 20 aircraft from Lot 3 onward were upgraded to Block 30 standards under the Common Configuration Plan. Lockheed Martin in 2017 had also proposed upgrading all remaining Block 20 training aircraft to Block 30/35 as well.

USAF believes the Block 20 aircraft is obsolescent and unsuitable even for training F-22 pilots and that upgrading them to Block 30/35 standards would be cost-prohibitive at $3.5 billion. In September of 2025, Lockheed Martin revealed plans to modify 35 Block 20 F-22s, used for training purposes, to combat ready Block 30/35 F-22s.

More info:

• Air & Space Forces Magazine - Block 20 F-22