RAPTOR F-22
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Here's A Little F-22 Raptor History with a lil
snapshot or two...
The F-22 is being developed to counter the increasing sophistication and threat of hostile air forces and integrated air defense systems in use around the world. This fighter will provide air dominance and a precision ground attack capability for U.S. forces well into the 21st century. Its predecessor, the F-15, entered the Air Force inventory in 1975.
Air and ground threats that the F-15 will no longer be able to counter
will be defeated by the lethal and survivable F-22, with its balance of increased speed
and range, enhanced offensive and defensive avionics, and reduced observability. The
F-22's design also emphasizes stealth & lethality with internal weapons, just look...
[This 3 second video
COULD take 5 minutes to download...
in other words keep reading!]
THREATS FACING THE RAPTOR
The F-22 will be capable of flying and fighting against the most advanced integrated radar networks and dense surface-to-air missile environments in the world -- now and in the future. A new generation of fighters is under development in several countries around the world today as well as in the former Soviet Union.
The advent of these new fighters as well as the continuing export of the latest in air defense and adversary advanced fighter technology to the Third World will place at increasing risk the United States's ability to gain and maintain air superiority, much less air dominance.
The F-22 will be needed to maintain the air dominance that was displayed
by U.S. forces during the Persian Gulf war. Success of any major air-land operation--today
and in the future--will depend primarily upon America's ability to detect and destroy
enemy fighters, but also to attack high-value ground targets with accuracy &
precision, rain or shine, day or night against hostile missile or next generation tactical
interceptors.
Next Gen. .Avionics * 5 Times Range F15/16 * 6 Times
Acceleration
ENGINES of the RAPTOR
The F-22 will incorporate a new, higher thrust-to-weight engine, the Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100, which is designed for efficient supersonic operation without afterburner (called supercruise), and with increased durability over current engines.
Advanced technologies incorporated in the 35,000-pound-thrust class F119 include integrated flight-propulsion controls and two-dimensional, thrust-vectoring engine nozzles, which will give the F-22 unprecedented aircraft maneuverability.
Development of the F119 is taking place at Pratt & Whitney's West Palm Beach, Fla., facility, while production will take place at the company's factories in Middletown, Conn.
Pratt & Whitney will build 27 flightworthy engines during EMD. Each F-22 will be powered by two F119 engines.
Internal WEAPON'S Bay
The F-22 is capable of carrying existing and planned air-to-air weapons in internal bays. These include six radar-guided AIM-120C Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs) in the main weapons bay (or four earlier version, longer-finned AIM-120A AMRAAMs), and two heat-seeking, short-range AIM-9M Sidewinders (one in each side weapons bay). The F-22 will also have an internal M61A2 20-mm cannon, an advanced version of the proven M61 Gatling-type gun.
In addition, the F-22 will have an inherent ground attack capability, as it can carry two 1,000-pound-class GBU-32 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) internally (in place of two of the AIM-120s). The F-22 will also have provisions to carry other weapons in the future.
PREPRODUCTION AIRCRAFT
The risk involved in proceeding with the EMD program was significantly reduced by the aggressive and successful dem/val effort. The flight phase involved Company and Air Force test pilots flying both prototype YF-22s a total of 74 flights and 91.6 hours. Major achievements included supercruise, weapons employment (live AIM-9/ AIM-120 missile launches), thrust vectoring, air refueling, and high angle of attack (60 degree AoA) flight.
Another major achievement was the development, integration, and demonstration of prototype avionics hardware, architecture, and software. This effort involved 16 major subcontractors working as a team to demonstrate the F-22 avionics concept first in Boeing's Avionics Ground Prototype Laboratory, followed by airborne tests in Boeing's 757 Airborne Flying Laboratory (AFL).
These risk-reducing demonstrations validated Lockheed's approach to integrated avionics and ability to develop Ada software (800,000 lines of code). In addition, the Lockheed team completed an avionics architecture demonstration utilizing brassboard processing hardware to validate the Air Force's Pave Pillar fault tolerant, reconfigurable, design concept.
Based on extensive trade studies and near-real-time effectiveness analysis, the F-22 Team flew its design in a series of USAF/USN full mission simulations to validate overall weapon system effectiveness during the dem/val phase.
This simulation involved very high fidelity manned and unmanned airborne and surface-to-air threats in a variety of Air Force-dictated scenarios to evaluate cockpit design, control mechanization, and Pilot/Vehicle Interface. The result was a highly effective cockpit avionics suite now undergoing final development during the EMD phase.
A final major achievement in the demonstration/validation phases was the construction and testing of a full-scale pole model of the F-22 for radar cross section measurement. As in previous efforts, the F-22 team met the Air Force goals in this area.
A key goal of the program was to define the design/capability tradeoffs
required to meet Air Force cost goals. This was achieved. EMD proposed designs,
performance data, and cost trade-offs derived from the dem/val program are based on a
balance of lethality, survivability, producibility and affordability.
Super Cruise Speeds * Short Take Off / Lndgs* First Look /First
Shot
RAPTOR'S CUTTING EDGE TECHNOLOGIES
In addition to greater lethality and survivability, the F-22 design calls for higher reliability, maintainability, and sortie generation rates than the aircraft it will replace. The design goal for all areas is a 100 percent improvement over the F-15 weapon system.
The F-22 will provide a first-look, first-shot, first-kill capability through the use of reduced observables and advanced sensors. To decrease the reaction time of enemy threats, increased supersonic cruise, and maneuverability goals have been set. To improve operations from battle-damaged runways, the F-22 offers significantly reduced takeoff and landing distances, as compared to today's frontline fighters.
A greatly increased combat radius, using internal fuel only, will give F-22 pilots the capability to engage the enemy over his territory and support long-range air-to-ground assets such as the F-15E. The F-22 will also bring a precision ground attack capability to the battlefield.
STATE-OF THE-ART AVIONICS
The F-22's avionics suite will feature extensive use of very high-speed integrated circuit (VHSIC) technology, common modules, and high-speed data buses. The avionics suite will be a highly integrated system maximizing performance allowing the pilot to concentrate on the mission, rather than on managing the sensors as in current fighters.
Technologies to be incorporated in the F-22 include a Common Integrated Processor (CIP), a central "brain" with the equivalent computing throughput of two Cray supercomputers; shared low-observable antennas; Ada software; expert systems; advanced data fusion-cockpit displays; integrated electronic warfare system (INEWS) technology; integrated communications, navigation, and identification (CNI) avionics technology; and fiber optics data transmission.
Nearly all of these elements were demonstrated during dem/val in a prototype architecture.
DESIGNS BORROWED FROM F-117 AND SR-71
The F-22 will represent a significant design evolution beyond the highly successful F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter and it will have performance not achievable by today's front-line fighters.
Low observable, or stealth, technology has advanced to the point where conventional aerodynamic configurations can be made incorporating low observability without compromising aerodynamic performance or increasing costs significantly.
Design development risk was greatly reduced by the performance demonstrated in the dem/val program where angle of attack attitudes up to 60 degrees were flown. The validity of the low observability features of the F-22's design were confirmed by full-scale pole model testing.
The F-22 design will incorporate the latest advances in flight control technology including fiber optics, digital computers, and integrated propulsion controls for exceptional stability and handling. The operation of the two-dimensional thrust vectoring engine nozzles will be transparent to the pilot.
Thermoset and some thermoplastic composites will be used extensively for more efficient aerodynamic and structural design with reduced weight. Approximately 27 percent of the F-22 by weight will be composite materials.
Other technologies to be incorporated include high pressure, non-flammable hydraulic systems, hydraulically actuated weapon racks, a central maintenance identification and record-keeping system, and conformal sensors.
FIRST & MAYBE ONLY PUBLIC DISPLAY
The only F-22 'RAPTOR' (production
model #0001) will be on the tarmac at Nellis AFB, Las Vegas,
Nevada; for the Air Force 50 celebrations directly in front of the Thunderbird's Red,
White & Blue
hanger for the duration of the week long festivities April 14 - 19, 1997; but without any
of its engines!
Wild Weasel Missions * Strategic Capability * HiAlt
Reconnaissance
First Flight F-22 #0001 is May 1997
Video Note...
There are two sequences of the RAPTOR on the DVD, one was made for the
50th USAF convention goers at the Las Vegas Convention Center the other is at Tonapah!
You may press the previous screen button on your
browser or click here
to return to the 50th page or here
to return to the Air Show main menu
(aren't we considerate!).