If she wasn’t built to turn, I’d hate to see what a focus on maneuvering would have looked like.

The notion that the F-22 was designed simply as a missile platform is false. F-22 structure was designed for usage comparable to that experienced by Israeli F-16s. (The IAF is relatively small and therefore they cannot rotate A/C in and out of training units where fatigue damage accumulation is most severe. IAF S-N curves are an order of magnitude greater than those for USAF F-16s). Back in 1993-94 when weight problems threatened the F-22 program, there was a push to limit usage to 7.5g’s. USAF rejected that notion in high dudgeon. 9.0 or bust. I don’t know anything about knife fighting, but I do know F-22 matches F-16 in roll rate, and exceeds it in pitch rate, acceleration, top end speed, altitude, and a bunch of other areas. As an indication of F-22 design intent, consider the wing-to-body joint. F-22 has an F-15-style WJNT, however wing loads are reacted at 7 points on F-22 vs 5 points on F-15. Furthermore, the F-22 WJNT is titanium; whereas the F-15 WJNT is aluminum. (Ti has much greater crack growth resistance to repeated loads.) F-22 structure was designed for severe usage. As no other aircraft can match it in performance, none can match it in durability either (save for those that were manufactured with improperly heat-treated aft booms).