The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor was built as a generational leap over the existing F-15 Eagle. The F-15 Eagle was designed as an air superiority fighter, but by the 1980s, the Air Force felt it might not have the “unfair” advantage that they wanted, as the Soviet Union developed the Su-27 and MiG-29. The F-22 was initially designed as a late Cold War effort to overmatch any fighter jets the Soviets could field.