F-22 Raptor gets certified for operational use
Discussion
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The futuristic F-22A "Raptor" fighter jet, designed to dominate the skies well into the 21st century, joined the U.S. combat fleet on Thursday, 20 years after it was conceived to fight Soviet MiGs over Europe.
The Air Force said "initial operational capability" had been achieved by 16 of the aircraft at the 1st Fighter Wing's 27th Fighter Squadron at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia.
Pilots in the squadron, the Air Force's oldest in continuous operation, have been training on the F-22 for about a year. "When asked to go to war, they're ready," said the 1st Fighter Wing's Sgt. Thomas Doscher of the status change.
The aircraft's role is to "kick the doors down" in a conflict, as Pentagon officials put it, knocking out defenses on the ground and in the air to clear the way for other warplanes and forces.
The radar-evading Raptor is twice as reliable and three times more effective than the F-15C Eagle it is replacing as the top U.S. air-to-air fighter, according to Lockheed Martin Corp., its developer.
Lockheed described the fighter as the world's most advanced and said it was "relevant for the next 40 years."
Boeing Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp. are top F-22 subcontractors. United Technologies Corp.'s Pratt & Whitney unit makes the aircraft's two engines.
STEALTHY AND SUPERSONIC
The Raptor combines low-observability, or stealth, with supersonic speed, agility and cockpit displays designed to boost greatly pilots' awareness of the situation around them.
At a "fly-away" cost of about $130 million each for the most recent batch, not including research and development, it is also one of the most controversial U.S. warplanes ever.
Critics have termed it unaffordable overkill in a world without the potential threat of a Soviet Union able to send swarms of MiGs into a dogfight, which prompted its inception in 1986.
The Air Force is planning to stretch F-22 production until 2010 to keep Lockheed's production line open pending arrival of its more affordable F-35 Joint Strike Fighter family of aircraft that will also go to the Navy, the Marines and co-developing nations that include Britain, Italy and Turkey.
The F-22 also has a ground attack capability to drop 250-pound, small-diameter bombs or 1,000-pound Joint Direct Attack Munitions while flying at supersonic speeds.
Gen. Michael Moseley, the Air Force chief of staff, has said the F-22 is needed against threats such as Russian-built surface-to-air missiles sold overseas.
Moseley said on Tuesday he hoped to buy 183 F-22s, four more than currently in the budget and enough for seven combat-ready squadrons, down from the 750 F-22s once planned.
Others have cast it as the weapon of choice for any future U.S. conflict with China, for instance over Taiwan.
"There is a clear role for F-22 here," said Daniel Goure, a former Pentagon strategist now at the Lexington Institute, an Arlington, Virginia, research group with close ties to the U.S. defense establishment.
As of last month, 53 F-22s had been delivered to the Air Force. Eventually, a squadron is expected to be based on the Pacific island of Guam, a U.S. territory within striking distance of China.
12/15/2005 - LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. (AFPN) -- The F-22A Raptor -- Air Force’s most advanced weapon system -- is ready for combat, Air Force officials announced here today.
In reaching initial operational capability, the Raptor is certified ready for operational use.
The first combat-ready Raptors are flying with the 27th Fighter Squadron of the 1st Fighter Wing here. The squadron’s deployment capability is a 12-ship package designed to execute air-to-air and air-to-ground missions.
“If we go to war tomorrow, the Raptor will go with us,” said Gen. Ronald E. Keys, commander of Air Combat Command.
Declaring the transformational stealth fighter “IOC” means the Raptor’s proven capabilities are available for combat and supported by a properly trained and equipped force.
It also means the aircraft is qualified to fly homeland defense missions.
“F-22A IOC means our warfighters now have an unprecedented lethal mix of air-to-air and air-to-ground capabilities at their disposal,” General Keys said. “The Raptor’s cutting edge technology brings us continued joint air dominance despite advancing enemy threats.”
Reaching the IOC milestone culminates a collaborative 25-year effort between various Air Force organizations and industry partners. The road to the IOC included was a step-by-step process. The F-22A System Program Office first turned Air Force requirements into a successful acquisition program. Then there was developmental flight test and evaluation, simulation and ground testing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and Eglin AFB, Fla. There was engine testing at Arnold AFB, Tenn., and missile testing at Holloman AFB, N.M., and over the Pacific Test Range. Also, there was tactics development at Nellis AFB, Nev., pilot and maintenance training at Tyndall AFB, Fla., and deployability here.
“The F-22A fulfills a long quest to bring fifth-generation capabilities of stealth, supercruise and precision to the warfighter today and 30 years from today,” General Keys said. “Now that we have met our first promised milestone of a fully capable, multi-mission platform ready for combat, we are already focused on furthering our integrated tactics development, refining our deployabilty, growing and training our force.”
The general said, “To add to what we learned on our successful first operational deployment to the Utah Test and Training Range to drop JDAMs (joint direct attack munition), fly against double-digit SAMs (surface-to-air missiles) at Nellis and work (close air support) with F-16 FAC-As, we will conduct our first routine peacetime exercise deployment by taking 12 Raptors to Alaska in June for Northern Edge.”
Designed to ensure America’s air dominance for years to come, the F-22A will ensure U.S. joint forces’ freedom from attack and freedom to attack, even as adversaries continue to advance their weapons and technologies, officials said.
“As I told (Air Force Chief of Staff) Gen. (T. Michael) Moseley, he and I have spent our lifetime executing, instructing and providing air dominance for the joint force. Lamentably, we have never been privileged to hold a weapon like this in our hands.
“After reviewing our test results -- seeing our operational deployment performance and talking to the pilots that will go to war with it -- I am confident the F-22A joins the combat force at a far more mature and capable level than any of our previous great aircraft, and will take its rightful place in a long line of U.S. Air Force legends of the air,” General Keys said.
The Air Force said "initial operational capability" had been achieved by 16 of the aircraft at the 1st Fighter Wing's 27th Fighter Squadron at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia.
Pilots in the squadron, the Air Force's oldest in continuous operation, have been training on the F-22 for about a year. "When asked to go to war, they're ready," said the 1st Fighter Wing's Sgt. Thomas Doscher of the status change.
The aircraft's role is to "kick the doors down" in a conflict, as Pentagon officials put it, knocking out defenses on the ground and in the air to clear the way for other warplanes and forces.
The radar-evading Raptor is twice as reliable and three times more effective than the F-15C Eagle it is replacing as the top U.S. air-to-air fighter, according to Lockheed Martin Corp., its developer.
Lockheed described the fighter as the world's most advanced and said it was "relevant for the next 40 years."
Boeing Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp. are top F-22 subcontractors. United Technologies Corp.'s Pratt & Whitney unit makes the aircraft's two engines.
STEALTHY AND SUPERSONIC
The Raptor combines low-observability, or stealth, with supersonic speed, agility and cockpit displays designed to boost greatly pilots' awareness of the situation around them.
At a "fly-away" cost of about $130 million each for the most recent batch, not including research and development, it is also one of the most controversial U.S. warplanes ever.
Critics have termed it unaffordable overkill in a world without the potential threat of a Soviet Union able to send swarms of MiGs into a dogfight, which prompted its inception in 1986.
The Air Force is planning to stretch F-22 production until 2010 to keep Lockheed's production line open pending arrival of its more affordable F-35 Joint Strike Fighter family of aircraft that will also go to the Navy, the Marines and co-developing nations that include Britain, Italy and Turkey.
The F-22 also has a ground attack capability to drop 250-pound, small-diameter bombs or 1,000-pound Joint Direct Attack Munitions while flying at supersonic speeds.
Gen. Michael Moseley, the Air Force chief of staff, has said the F-22 is needed against threats such as Russian-built surface-to-air missiles sold overseas.
Moseley said on Tuesday he hoped to buy 183 F-22s, four more than currently in the budget and enough for seven combat-ready squadrons, down from the 750 F-22s once planned.
Others have cast it as the weapon of choice for any future U.S. conflict with China, for instance over Taiwan.
"There is a clear role for F-22 here," said Daniel Goure, a former Pentagon strategist now at the Lexington Institute, an Arlington, Virginia, research group with close ties to the U.S. defense establishment.
As of last month, 53 F-22s had been delivered to the Air Force. Eventually, a squadron is expected to be based on the Pacific island of Guam, a U.S. territory within striking distance of China.
12/15/2005 - LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. (AFPN) -- The F-22A Raptor -- Air Force’s most advanced weapon system -- is ready for combat, Air Force officials announced here today.
In reaching initial operational capability, the Raptor is certified ready for operational use.
The first combat-ready Raptors are flying with the 27th Fighter Squadron of the 1st Fighter Wing here. The squadron’s deployment capability is a 12-ship package designed to execute air-to-air and air-to-ground missions.
“If we go to war tomorrow, the Raptor will go with us,” said Gen. Ronald E. Keys, commander of Air Combat Command.
Declaring the transformational stealth fighter “IOC” means the Raptor’s proven capabilities are available for combat and supported by a properly trained and equipped force.
It also means the aircraft is qualified to fly homeland defense missions.
“F-22A IOC means our warfighters now have an unprecedented lethal mix of air-to-air and air-to-ground capabilities at their disposal,” General Keys said. “The Raptor’s cutting edge technology brings us continued joint air dominance despite advancing enemy threats.”
Reaching the IOC milestone culminates a collaborative 25-year effort between various Air Force organizations and industry partners. The road to the IOC included was a step-by-step process. The F-22A System Program Office first turned Air Force requirements into a successful acquisition program. Then there was developmental flight test and evaluation, simulation and ground testing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and Eglin AFB, Fla. There was engine testing at Arnold AFB, Tenn., and missile testing at Holloman AFB, N.M., and over the Pacific Test Range. Also, there was tactics development at Nellis AFB, Nev., pilot and maintenance training at Tyndall AFB, Fla., and deployability here.
“The F-22A fulfills a long quest to bring fifth-generation capabilities of stealth, supercruise and precision to the warfighter today and 30 years from today,” General Keys said. “Now that we have met our first promised milestone of a fully capable, multi-mission platform ready for combat, we are already focused on furthering our integrated tactics development, refining our deployabilty, growing and training our force.”
The general said, “To add to what we learned on our successful first operational deployment to the Utah Test and Training Range to drop JDAMs (joint direct attack munition), fly against double-digit SAMs (surface-to-air missiles) at Nellis and work (close air support) with F-16 FAC-As, we will conduct our first routine peacetime exercise deployment by taking 12 Raptors to Alaska in June for Northern Edge.”
Designed to ensure America’s air dominance for years to come, the F-22A will ensure U.S. joint forces’ freedom from attack and freedom to attack, even as adversaries continue to advance their weapons and technologies, officials said.
“As I told (Air Force Chief of Staff) Gen. (T. Michael) Moseley, he and I have spent our lifetime executing, instructing and providing air dominance for the joint force. Lamentably, we have never been privileged to hold a weapon like this in our hands.
“After reviewing our test results -- seeing our operational deployment performance and talking to the pilots that will go to war with it -- I am confident the F-22A joins the combat force at a far more mature and capable level than any of our previous great aircraft, and will take its rightful place in a long line of U.S. Air Force legends of the air,” General Keys said.
Very nice jet..
My personal favourite (air-to-air), Check out this bad ass: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Su-47
My personal favourite (air-to-air), Check out this bad ass: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Su-47
If we go to war tomorrow, the Raptor will go with us,” said Gen. Ronald E. Keys, commander of Air Combat Command.
Er General, you already are at war.
Losing 3 troops a day.
$ 130 Million per aircraft ? Just dandy and about as effective against IED's as balsa armour.
Bet your grunts are glad they have these on their side now to drop a 500 pound JDAM on a solitary sniper holding them down.
Er General, you already are at war.
Losing 3 troops a day.
$ 130 Million per aircraft ? Just dandy and about as effective against IED's as balsa armour.
Bet your grunts are glad they have these on their side now to drop a 500 pound JDAM on a solitary sniper holding them down.
focusonme said:
Twenty years from concept to certification?! Bloody hell, glad there's not a war on...
Erm.
It is a military project though. Mind you the SR71 was design and a prototype built in 18 months
The thing is modern military is becoming more reliable on embedded system which take ages to be designed, built and thoroughly tested - the F22 being the pinnacle of computer system integration (even though the hardware is probably way out of date already).
scorp said:
Why did we buy a shedload of typhoons, when at the same time we are going to have some of those new JSF's delivered.
Cos we were contractually entitled to buy them and it would have cost us a fortune to drop out - not to mention the political ramifications.
The decision to buy the JSF came much later. I think it's intended that they will fly off the two carriers which are on the verge of being built but which don't come into service for another 8-10 years. I'd guess that a decision was taken that it was cheaper to buy them rather than try to "navalise" the Typhoon.
>> Edited by Lurking Lawyer on Saturday 17th December 20:22
- how does the EF fair against top-end russian jets?I'm sure it could at least hold its own. Don't forget that most "top end" Russian jets gave been flying since about 1977. Both the MiG-29 and Sukhoi Su-27 are getting on a bit now. Virtually none of the subsequent developments or prototypes have been ordered into production.
Often however, it's the internal kit of the aircraft and the level of training of the pilots that make all the difference. Iraqi MiG-29s and Libyan MiG-29s didn't fare that well against USAF, Israeli or Saudi F-15s and F-16s.
>> Edited by Eric Mc on Saturday 17th December 20:39
Often however, it's the internal kit of the aircraft and the level of training of the pilots that make all the difference. Iraqi MiG-29s and Libyan MiG-29s didn't fare that well against USAF, Israeli or Saudi F-15s and F-16s.
>> Edited by Eric Mc on Saturday 17th December 20:39
Hilts said:
Losing 3 troops a day.
That has to be a record for wartime.
Hilts said:
Bet your grunts are glad they have these on their side now to drop a 500 pound JDAM on a solitary sniper holding them down.
I bet if you were a grunt being held down by a solitary sniper you'd be damn glad to see it drop a 500 pound JDAM on the c*nt. Or maybe you'd rather stick your head up and take your chance?
Eric Mc said:
It's called Forward Air Control and has been used since World War 2 - epitomised by the RAF's 2nd Tactical Air Force and their Typhoons (the original - not the current one).
Or possibly even the last months of WW1 when we devised the blitzkrieg concept?
Yes, we figured out blitzkrieg, tank warfare, air support and air combat tactics in 1918, but threw it all away in the pacifist years and paid the price.
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