GTA Online F-160 Raiju: A brand-new jet debuting in San Andreas Mercenaries update

The first named vehicle for GTA Online's San Andreas Mercenaries update is the F-160 Raiju. This jet's design is seemingly based on the real-life F-35. While its full capabilities are yet to be revealed, Rockstar Games has been kind enough to unveil plenty of information regarding this aircraft. Screenshots, Newswire articles, and a trailer include all the details regarding this new military jet that will be discussed in this article.

As far as etymology is concerned, the F-160 Raiju appears to be named after the F-35 Lightning. F-160 and F-35 are similar names. Raiju, on the other hand, is a creature in Japanese mythology often associated with lightning. The rest of this article will cover what else has been revealed about this new plane so far.

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Everything revealed about GTA Online's new jet in the San Andreas Mercenaries update: The F-160 Raiju

Another screenshot of this new jet (Image via Rockstar Games)

The first time that Rockstar Games referenced this new plane by name was in a GTA Online Newswire article about upcoming Experience Improvements. Under the Vehicle Updates section is a passage stating:

"Pressing D-Pad Right will engage Stealth Mode on the new F-160 Raiju Plane. Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) will move to L3/LS. Holding L3/LS when flying all VTOL aircraft will switch it into and out of VTOL mode."

Interestingly, PC controls are not listed here. Rockstar Games has not specified if the new jet will be exclusive to the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S ports. It's possible that the Newswire article merely glanced over PC players who don't use a controller in its GTA Online San Andreas Mercenaries overview.

A screenshot from the trailer where the vehicle's VTOL is shown (Image via Rockstar Games)

The F-160 Raiju will be one of a few vehicles capable of using VTOL in this title's upcoming DLC. Not only that, it will also be a rare example of a plane with a Stealth Mode. The full details of this feature are yet to be revealed. However, other aircraft with similar modes hide the player's icon from the map.

Any Wanted Level three or higher is also expected to be reduced to two through this feature so this aircraft can fall in line with how the Annihilator Stealth and Akula handle Stealth Mode.

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Known weaponry

This is the interior of the new jet, as shown in the San Andreas Mercenaries trailer (Image via Rockstar Games)

The GTA Online San Andreas Mercenaries trailer shows that the new jet can use the following weapons:

• Front Cannons
• Missiles
• Homing Missiles

It's far too early to tell how deadly the F-160 Raiju will perform in GTA Online once this aircraft becomes available in San Andreas Mercenaries. Trailers usually exist to hype up new content, so gamers will have to wait and see where this plane lands in the current metagame.

Here are some things that players will need to explore once the F-160 Raiju is released:

• Its top speed
• Number of missiles required to destroy this vehicle
• How accurate are its own homing missiles?
• How easy is it to operate this plane?

The release date for the new military jet is yet to be confirmed by Rockstar Games. It may come out on June 13, 2023, since that's when the San Andreas Mercenaries update goes live for GTA Online players.