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View Full Version : F-22A Raptor Cleared For Operational Duty....



Hardrock69
01-18-2006, 02:16 PM
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=297


Lockheed Martin's Raptor is cleared for deployment anywhere in the world

Lockheed Martin's F-22A Raptor has been officially cleared for operation in both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions. Langley Air Force in Virginia is now home to 12 combat-ready Raptors. It has been a long road for the Air Force's successor to the F-15 Strike Eagle. The first flight of the prototype YF-22 took place on September 29th, 1990 and the aircraft was officially named the F-22 Raptor in April of 1997.

The F-22A employs advanced stealth technology that was pioneered on the F-117 Nighthawk and has the ability to "supercruise" at speeds up to Mach 1.58 without the use of afterburners with its twin Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 turbofan engines. The fighter has the ability to obtain Mach 2+ with the use of its afterburners.

The F-22A is also one of the first operational fighter planes to feature an all-glass cockpit with no traditional round gauges serving as a backup. And for you CRT fans out there, sorry -- the Raptor uses six LCD screens instead of CRTs due to their lower power requirements.

Nickdfresh
01-19-2006, 06:39 PM
She's a beauty, but man does that cause sticker shock!

Douglas T.
01-19-2006, 06:53 PM
I have a nice power point show of this bad boy! What's the best way to share it?

jhale667
01-19-2006, 07:18 PM
My best friend is in the Air Force working with these...he's like "Dude, they're so cool I can't even TELL you HALF of the shit they're capable of! " He's been raving about them for a year or more...apparently in all the test dogfights they've done, against F-15s, MIGs, you name it...the F-22A is fucking UNDEFEATED...:D

I'm a peace-loving guy and all, but I've been into fighter planes since I was a kid.... ;)

Nickdfresh
01-19-2006, 07:30 PM
Some might argue that a MIG-35 or a SU-37 may actually be more maneuverable at close ranges (if they CAN get close).
http://aviaweb.ifrance.com/mil/proto/mig-35_1.jpg
http://www.kitsune.addr.com/Robotech/Robotech-Vehicles/EBSIS_Su-37.jpg

jhale667
01-19-2006, 07:36 PM
I think that's the key...they CAN'T get close...or see it coming. :D

knuckleboner
01-20-2006, 11:44 AM
yeah, exactly. the MiGs have the thrust vectoring that's insane. crazy maneuvers an aircraft SHOULDN'T be able to do.

but, if you're not close enough to go guns to guns, then it's all just impressive dog-and-pony air show stuff.


(and, i think the raptor has limited thrust vectoring as well, right?)

Nickdfresh
01-20-2006, 11:46 AM
The F-22 has thrust vectoring also. But the Russians have been doing it longer, and are assumed to be better at it...

jhale667
01-20-2006, 12:35 PM
I'm told the F22a can pull maneuvers that produce Gs to the point where the pilot will momentarily black out, and the auto-pilot monitors his vitals, so it kicks in for the moment he's out...pretty impressive. It's got a heads-up display too, right? Where info is projected on the pilot's visor, and his eyes are the 'mouse'....:D

Hardrock69
01-20-2006, 12:58 PM
Yup.

Think what a heads-up display would be like with say...Half Life 2 or some cool first person shooter...
:D

scamper
01-20-2006, 02:05 PM
Originally posted by Nickdfresh
She's a beauty, but man does that cause sticker shock!

Do they come in firetruck red?

Nickdfresh
01-20-2006, 02:46 PM
Originally posted by scamper
Do they come in firetruck red?

I suspect they'll only be offered in Charcoal gray, gray-blue camo, and forest green camo...

At over $100Million a copy, they seem a might expensive...

jhale667
01-20-2006, 03:01 PM
Originally posted by Hardrock69
Yup.

Think what a heads-up display would be like with say...Half Life 2 or some cool first person shooter...
:D


:D:D:D:D

Mr Grimsdale
01-25-2006, 02:22 PM
Originally posted by Nickdfresh
Some might argue that a MIG-35 or a SU-37 may actually be more maneuverable at close ranges (if they CAN get close).
http://aviaweb.ifrance.com/mil/proto/mig-35_1.jpg
http://www.kitsune.addr.com/Robotech/Robotech-Vehicles/EBSIS_Su-37.jpg

bah, never mind that
mind this...

su-47 s37 berkhut - a one off prototype

http://www.flymig.com/maks_2003/images/berkut.angle.jpg

russian thrust vectoring

http://www.b-domke.de/AviationImages/Flanker/Images/3076.jpg
actually the US has been engaged in multi-axis thrust vectoring as long, if not longer than the russians - ever heard of the f-16 matv? then there's thrust vectoring f-15 nasa flew in the early/mid 90s

check out the dryden photo archive for lots of interesting stuff

of course the uk got there first back in the 60s
here's the berkhut again
http://www.angkasa-online.com/10/10/notam/not3.jpg
http://images.military.com/Data/EQG/SU47-1.jpg

Nickdfresh
01-25-2006, 04:21 PM
Some of those Ruskie designs may never see deployment though...

Mr Grimsdale
01-25-2006, 04:36 PM
i did say the berkhut was a one-off

i don't think their thrust vectoring flankers ever entered mass production either

Mr Grimsdale
01-25-2006, 04:40 PM
http://strategypage.com/dls/articles/20054421.asp
F-22 Versus Eurofighter
by Harold C. Hutchison
April 4, 2005
Discussion Board on this DLS topic
U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff John Jumper recently took a check ride in the Eurofighter, making him the first person to have flown both the Eurofighter and the F-22. So far, he is the only person to have done this, and his comments on the two aircraft have raised a point often forgotten by people. That point is that these two aircraft have been designed for different purposes.

The F-22 was intended to be an aerial version of a sniper. It has performed well in tests as a dogfighter, but it is primarily intended to get deep into opposing airspace and to take out the high-value airframes of an opponent. These are better known as airborne early warning planes, taking aircraft, and even the opposition?s top fighters. Its chief assets are speed and stealth. To get in close quickly, and to kill its prey with an AMRAAM, then get out. The stealth helps it get in close ? the speed shortens the reaction time once the plane is detected (stealth technology only reduces the detection range ? albeit the range is greatly reduced). The F-22 is primarily intended for air-to-air combat. Its secondary role of attack is very limited (two JDAMs or eight GBU-30 or GBU-40 Small-Diameter Bombs), but again, stealth and speed play big roles. The stealth gets the plane close, and the speed gives the target very little chance of reacting before the bombs hit the ground.

This is not to say the F-22 can?t handle a dogfight (there are plenty of F-15 and F-16 pilots who have gone head-to-head with the F-22 who will attest to that). However, if the F-22 is in a dogfight, the pilot is not using the aircraft in the most effective manner. With a planned production run of 179 aircraft (or possibly as high as 277), the F-22 is too important to be risked in a dogfight.

The Eurofighter, on the other hand, is a pure multi-role aircraft. This is a plane that, while it has some stealthy features, is intended to dogfight, win air superiority, or to carry out some attack missions. What roles this plane carries out will often depend on who buys it. Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece, Austria, and the UK are already confirmed buyers, with Norway and Singapore possibly buying additional planes. The current run of Eurofighter is 620 aircraft. The United Kingdom and Germany will both have more Eurofighters than the United States will have F-22s should the planned production cuts to 179 remain in place.

These two aircraft are more akin to complementary parts of a team. The F-22 would kick in the door, so to speak, taking out key points of the defenses, and allowing the Eurofighter (and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter) to follow, carrying out various airstrikes and carrying out the bulk of the air superiority missions. These two aircraft will be the top aircraft for the United States and Europe, respectively in the early 21st Century.

Nickdfresh
01-25-2006, 08:04 PM
We have the Lockheed F-35 (http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/f-35.htm) for a multi-role, strike fighter. I think the British, Aussies, Canadians, and a few others are involved in its development...

Mr Grimsdale
01-26-2006, 02:26 PM
Yep the RAF and RN are taking delivery in er... whenever it's ready. I didn't know the Aussies and Canadians were involved in teh development.

I know Lockheed's the lead contractor with BAe working as principal sub-contractor. Big money's involved in that project.

The Typhoon will be used principally for air-to-air at least initially, although it will end up replacing Tornado GR4s eventually. The F-35/JSF will replace all the Harrier squadrons and equip the two new carriers the UK gets in about 5-6 years time. The Typhoon's come in for a lot of criticism, people saying it doesn't really have a role as it was designed to thwart the Warsaw Pact, the same argument could probably be levelled against the F-22. Regardless of that now they've got pretty much all the flight control software sorted out the Typhoon out-turns pretty much anything I've seen and has damn fine high AoA handling, particularly in a strange corkscrew sort of roll.

One jet that has really impressed me is the F/A-18E and F. I've only seen an F fly once but it is some performer. They've done some very clever stuff with that, the older F-18s are no slouch either but the new one can do some very odd stuff like bizarre vertical moves without any apparent pitch up or pitch down.