F/A-22 Raptor

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F/A-22 Raptors over California

The F/A-22 Raptor is a highly maneuverable stealthy fighter aircraft built by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics and Boeing Integrated Defense Systems.

1 Development
2 General information
3 Comparisons
4 External links
5 Specifications (F/A-22 Raptor)
6 Related content
7 Films

Development

F/A-22 Raptor in flight

Intended to be the leading United States advanced tactical fighter in the early part of the 21st century, the Raptor is certainly the most expensive fighter ever. The Pentagon concluded in 2004 that the total development and production cost of the currently planned 279 aircraft will come to $71.7 billion, or $256.9 million per plane.[1] (Some say the estimate should be somewhat lower because some research and development support the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter as well.)

The prototype YF-22 Lightning II won a fly-off competition against the Northrop/McDonnell-Douglas YF-23 for the Advanced Tactical Fighter contract. In April 1992, during flight testing after contract award, the first YF-22A prototype crashed while landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The test pilot, who was blamed for the crash, was not injured. The name "Lightning II" persisted until the mid-1990s, and for a short while, the plane was also dubbed "Rapier".

The F-22 became the "Raptor" when the first production-representative plane was unveiled on April 9, 1997, at Lockheed-Georgia Co., Marietta, Georgia. First flight occurred on September 7. In 2002, Air Force leaders changed the Raptor's designation to F/A-22. The new designation, which mimicked that of the Navy's F/A-18 Hornet, indicated that the Raptor would have some capability for ground strikes.

The first production F/A-22 was delivered to Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, on January 14, 2003. As of late 2004, 51 Raptors are in service, with 22 more ordered under fiscal year 2004 funding. F/A-22 Initial Operational Capability (IOC) occurred on October 27, 2004. The first production F/A-22 crash occurred at Nellis Air Force Base on December 20, 2004, during takeoff. The pilot ejected safely moments before impact. As of April 2005, the accident is still under investigation but investigators are pointing to a mechanical malfunction, not pilot error.

The dual Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 turbofans with afterburners incorporate supercruise and thrust vectoring. Thrust vectoring is in the pitch axis only, with a range of ± 20 degrees. The maximum thrust is classified, though most sources place it at about 39,000 lbf (173 kN). Maximum speed is Mach 1.58 in supercruise mode; with afterburners, "approximately Mach 2.0+" (2,120 km/h). The absence of variable intake ramps may make Mach 2.0+ unreachable. It has been speculated that the computerized flight control system (FLCS) limits the top speed to prevent the skin of the aircraft from deforming at high temperatures. Avionics include Raytheon and Northrop Grumman AN/APG-77 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar.

General information

Procurement

The United States Air Force originally planned an order of 750 ATFs, with production from 1994. Following the 1990 Major Aircraft Review, production was to begin in 1996 for a total of 648 aircraft. By 1994 the figure stood at 442 planes for service entry in 2003/2004. A DoD report in 1997 stated that 339 was the final number. Currently there is significant debate over the exact number of units affordable, though in 2003 the USAF said that it could buy 277 given a $43 billion cost limit. In 2005, for the fiscal year 2006, under further DoD cost cutting measures, is forecasting the number of aircraft procured at 180 saving an additional $15 billion but raising the per unit cost. Congress must approve the new proposal that would complete the program in 2008 after all units are delivered, though with a possibility of more orders being placed in the future as need be.

Unlike past tactical fighters the opportunity for export is virtually non-existent. The most important barrier to export of the F/A-22 is the sensitivity of the technology installed. Another barrier (and related) is cost; even if technology transfer could be approved it is difficult to identify an ally of the United States which could afford the aircraft. For example one of the highest spending allies of the U.S. is the United Kingdom, and is the most likely to pass hurdles for technology transfer, but could not afford the F/A-22 in the same numbers as its next-generation tactical fighter, the Eurofighter Typhoon.

Variants

Based on the F/A-22, the swing-wing NATF was proposed for the U.S. Navy to replace the F-14 Tomcat, though the program was subsequently cancelled in 1993. Another more recent proposal is the FB-22, which would be used as a deep strike bomber for the USAF. There has yet to be any word on whether the USAF plans further development of the program.

Combat systems

The Raptor's combat computer systems and power are unmatched by any other fighter planned to be developed by 2020. The AN/APG-77 AESA radar, designed for air-superiority and strike operations, features a low-observable, active-aperture, electronically-scanned array that can track multiple targets in all kinds of weather. The AN/APG-77 changes frequencies more than 1,000 times a second to reduce the chance of being intercepted. Its information is processed by the two Hughes-built Common Integrated Processors. Each CIP operates at 10.5 billion instructions per second and has 300 megabytes of memory. Unprecedented amounts of information can be gathered from the radar and other onboard and offboard systems, filtered by the CIP, and offered in easy-to-digest ways on several cockpit displays, enabling the pilot to remain on top of complicated situations. The Raptor's software is comprised of over 1.7 million lines of code, most of which concerns processing data from the radar [2].

Weapons

The Raptor is designed to carry its air-to-air missiles in internal bays to avoid disrupting its stealthiness. The missiles are launched by hydraulic arms that hurl them away from the jet so quickly that the weapons-bay doors pop open for less than one second. The plane can also carry bombs such as the large JDAM and the new Small Diameter Bomb. It can carry non-stealthy weapons on four external hardpoints, but this vastly increases the plane's radar signature.

Comparisons

The F-22 is generally thought to be the world's most effective air-superiority fighter, but government secrecy makes comparisons with other aircraft difficult. Among its advantages are its sensors, low radar signature, advanced avionics, and ability to exchange data with other U.S. systems.

The Raptor's supercruise ability may allow it to complete more missions in a given time than other aircraft, but may also consume its internal fuel so quickly that any advantage is negated. External tanks would greatly increase its radar signature. It is not known whether USAF claims about Raptor's superior maneuverability are accurate; many argue that, in any case, today's antiair missiles make maneuverability less important.

Its rising cost has forced the USAF to buy fewer F-22s than planned, and has likely slowed or curtailed other programs, such as air-superiority unmanned combat air vehicles.

See comparison of 21st century fighter aircraft for a more extensive discussion.

External links

F/A-22 Raptor Congressional Research Service report, 5 January 2005
History of the F-22 program
Stealth fighter crashes, a December 2004 article from the Las Vegas Review-Journal
[3] (PDF). Lengthy critical commentary on the Raptor from a former Air Force Colonel involved in aircraft development projects.

Specifications (F/A-22 Raptor)

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 62 ft 1 in (18.90 m)
Wingspan: 44 ft 6 in (13.56 m)
Height: 16 ft 5 in (5.08 m)
Wing area: 840 ft² 78.04 m²
Empty: 31,670 lb (14,365 kg)
Loaded: 60,000 lb (27,216 kg)
Maximum takeoff: 80,000 lb (36,500 kg)
Powerplant: 2x Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 turbofans, 35,000 lbf (156 kN) thrust each

Performance

Maximum speed: Mach 2+
Cruising Speed: Mach 1.58
Range: miles ( km)
Service ceiling: 50,000 ft (15,240 m)
Rate of climb: ft/min ( m/min)
Wing loading: lb/ft² ( kg/m²)
Thrust/weight:

Armament

Guns: 1x M61 Vulcan 20 mm Gatling gun with 480 rounds
Missiles: 6x AIM-120 AMRAAM, 2x AIM-9 Sidewinder
Bombs: 2x JDAM
4x external hardpoints can be fitted to carry weapons or fuel tanks, each with a capacity of 5,000 lb (2,270 kg)

Films

The F/A-22 Raptor made an appearence in the 2003 Marvel comic based movie Hulk

Categories: Stealth aircraft | U.S. attack aircraft 1990-1999 | U.S. fighter aircraft 1990-1999