Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor

History of the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor

The Lockheed F-22 Raptor is the culmination of decades of data collection, testing and analysis by the United States Air Force (USAF). It is the latest fighter design in the Air Force's stable and the most advanced fighter jet available today.

The F-22 was added to the USAF inventory to replace the aging McDonnell Douglas/Boeing F-15 Eagle family of air superiority/multirole fighter jets as part of the Global Strike Task Force against current and any future threats.

Combined with the upcoming Lockheed F-35 Lightning II multirole aircraft, the USAF will deliver a powerful double whammy for generations to come. As the world's only operational "fifth-generation" combat platform, the F-22's only real "enemy" at the moment appears to be growing pain points related to its complex and highly engineered internal systems.

Both Russia and China are developing their own fifth-generation fighter jets, challenging the F-22 for the next generation of skies.

The ATF Program in the Reagan Era

The origins of the F-22 lie in the Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program created by the U.S. Air Force to support the front lines of aging combat platforms during the Cold Warspecifically the venerable F-15 Eagle family. The F-15 Eagle itself was born out of the Cold War era and entered service in 1976.

Intended as the primary combat platform for true air superiority over Soviet-sponsored fighter jets at the time, it provided a powerful payload and excellent top speed, and proved over time with absolute success - the most One of the classic American fighter jets. This airframe was eventually converted to a dual-role air superiority/ground attack version in the F-15E "Strike Eagle" product, and was recently converted to a "semi-stealth" final product by the proposed F-15SE. "Silent Eagle" initiative. At the time of the ATF program, the F-15 was just beginning to gain a foothold in the U.S.

Air Force's inventory. However, technological advancements around the world will eventually change the fabled F-15 line and its catch concept equipped with a large interceptor, necessitating ordering of new thoroughbred aircraft. The ATF program began in 1981, and the U.S. Air Force eventually envisioned using about 750 ATF aircraft to fill their next-generation stable.

Several development platforms launched in the second half of the 1970s and in use into the 1980s provided valuable data that would shape the future of U.S. aviation.

Revised USAF Requirements

By June 1981, the official specifications for the F-15 successor had been worked out. The U.S. Air Force needed a new generation of aircraft that could exceed the speed of sound without the need for afterburner technology, while still maintaining a range of about 800 miles. The new fighter platform also needs to deliver unparalleled air-to-air performance (above Mach 1.5) through better use of emerging technologies, including vector thrust and stealth, the latter through different materials and clever design in the face of comparative stealth the enemy cares.

In July 1986, the demonstration and validation phase began, culminating in a formal "request for proposals" led by Lockheed and Northrop.

Comparison of YF-22 and YF-23

Prominent aerospace companies Lockheed and Northrop participated in the subsequent ATF competition. Lockheed's template was named "YF-22", while Northrop's template was named "YF-23". In addition to the new airframe design, each aircraft will test a pair of new engines in each prototype offered, with participation from both General Electric and Pratt & Whitney. Like their airframe counterparts, the engines in development were named "YF119" (Pratt & Whitney) and "YF120" (General Electric).

The U.S. Air Force requires each company to submit two prototypes with examples of each engine assembly for review. The program is a big stage for everyone involved, and the potential subsequent lucrative defense contracts will affect smaller contributors in several states across the country.

Compared to the military-oriented aircraft development of the past few years, this phase requires more resources, and now former competitors join forces to promote a viable end product. Lockheed partnered with Boeing and General Dynamics, while Northrop McDonald supported Douglas. The program was extended by six months in 1987 to redesign the YF-22 below the desired weight limit. Starting in 1990, the four prototypes have been completed and ready for evaluation.

The Northrop/McDonald Douglas development had its maiden flight on August 27, 1990. The Lockheed prototype - the N22YF - was unveiled at Lockheed's Palmdale, California factory on August 29, and first flew on September 29, 1990. In the case of Lockheed, Boeing is responsible for the wings and rear fuselage components, while Lockheed itself focuses on the cockpit and front nose components, and General Dynamics is responsible for the center fuselage and tail. A second prototype, the N22XF, was deployed with another engine under consideration and flew on October 30, 1990.

Northrop eventually associated their YF-23 with the "Black Widow II" moniker in homage to their P-61 "Black Widow" twin-engine piston night fighter. Likewise, the Lockheed team dubbed their YF-22 the "Lightning II" in homage to their war-winning twin-armed twin-engine fighter P-38 "Lightning" - the "Fork Tail Demon." .

Both aircraft demonstrate very different design approaches. The YF-22 features sharp angles, with receding main wing assemblies and outwardly sloping vertical stabilizers - which look quite different from the initially announced artistic impression.

The cockpit is located behind a pointed cone that houses the final radar panel. The air intakes are angled inward on its lower edge, and the overall design is designed to offset the fuselage's unique presence to track enemy radar installations. Therefore, the body is coated with radar-absorbing material and planes at various angles.

The YF-22 undoubtedly inherited many lessons learned from the development of the F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter decades ago.

On the other hand, the overall shape of the YF-23 is more unconventional, with its large wings that are diamond-shaped when looking down at the aircraft. The front profile of the design is relatively squat, with smooth sloping surfaces throughout.

There is no horizontal stabilizer like the YF-22 design, but an extremely outwardly raked vertical stabilizer that doubles as a rudder and elevator. Like Lockheed's YF-22, Northrop's YF-23 certainly draws on the experience they gained in their pursuit of the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber.

After a period of intense evaluation (probably a lot of political lobbying behind the scenes), Lockheed achieved a historic victory. Although Northrop's YF-23 was more powerful, the YF-22 was chosen as the winner of the competition due to its inherent maneuverability in combat roles. The Air Force also liked what they saw on the reliable and promising Pratt & Whitney YF119 engine and YF-22 prototypes, which won Pratt & Whitney an equally lucrative engine contract.

Formal long-term development of the winning YF-22 design began in April 1991.

Too strong for his own good?

From the beginning, the F-22 family was designed to be the most technologically advanced airborne fighter in the world. The F-22 is designed to deal with all current enemy threats in the air, as well as any "imminent" threats deemed to be developed by competing nations.

As a result, her advancement has spawned a new classification of "fifth-generation" fighter jets, putting her ahead of the global competition, and in some ways making all previous generation fighter jets a somewhat obsolete type. However, many see the purely revolutionary standard set by the F-22 as an end product designed for a non-existent threatessentially an expensive "overkill" effort that wasn't needed at the time.

In any case, there's no question that the F-22 was revolutionary from the start - it ushered in a whole new era of military-focused aviation, possibly the biggest advancement since the jet engine.

To demonstrate the capabilities and potential of the F-22, we released a controlled exercise pitting a pair of Raptors against four F-15 Eagles. By the end of the test, all four Eagles were attacked and "killed," with no losses to the F-22 pair.

After the exercise, the Eagle pilots were told that the F-22 didn't even show up on their radar throughout the propulsion and never targeted itself as the four Eagles waiting to fly -- something that Proof of hope is that the next generation of this stealth aircraft's capabilities is on the horizon.

Roadside speed bumps

Despite early decisive victories, the F-22 program (YF-22 stands for Prototype Evaluation Model) took years to develop. In April 1992, a YF-22 prototype was lost in an accident while landing at Edwards Air Force Base - thanks to system software, the pilot survived.

The first production-grade F-22 was officially designated the "F-22A," and in 1993, the dual-role design was officially developed for the aircraft due to the aircraft's promising prospects. The production-quality mounts differ significantly from the development model in their nose assembly, and their air intakes have also been slightly redesigned.

In April 1997, Lockheed Martin's Marietta, Georgia facility delivered an early evaluation batch (called EMDs = Engineering and Manufacturing Development) of 9 aircraft (up from the 11 originally proposed) ). Software and mechanical delays soon prompted the series' first flight on September 7, 1997, although critical and extensive testing of all internal systems and subsystems followed to resolve issues. It was followed by a second F-22, which exploded on June 29, 1998.

In August 2001, the United States Department of Defense (US DoD) ordered full-scale low-cost production, with a total of about 8 airworthy F-22 batches of about 295 aircraft (ranging from the planned 650, 438 to 339 F-22s) 22s), the first deliveries started in 2002 (later delayed to 2003). In 2004, the F-22 completed its Operational Test and Evaluation Center program with the U.S.

Air Force, which led directly to its full production in 2005. In December 2004, a production-grade F-22A was lost in an accident at Nellis Air Force Base. This is due to a power outage. The first operational F-22 squadron was also formed with the F-22A in 2005, and was officially launched on December 15 of that year (the "F/A-22" designation has only existed for a very long time in the short history of the United States.

Short time. F-22). Before the aircraft was named "F-22", the F/A designation was attributed to its additional "attack" role during the construction of the first two production-grade F-22As ).

F-22 Production and Operations

By the end of 2010, 168 of the 187 F-22As had been delivered to the USAF at a cost of $143-150 million for a single example, of which 137 were considered operational (May 2011). As of this writing, the U.S. Air Force remains the sole operator of expensive, high-tech machines, much of which is too sensitive for public consumption.

F-22s are currently at Tyndall AFB, Air Education and Training Command 325th Fighter Wing, Air Combat Command 1st, 44th, 49th, 53rd and 57th Wings, Air Materiel Command 412th Test Wing, 3rd , 15th Wing. and 447th Pacific Air Forces and 192nd and 154th Air National Guard Wings.

The key to the success of the F-22

Several factors play a key role in the expected success of the F-22 line. Of course, there are some hard-to-observe stealth characteristics that can minimize or negate its radar signature to ground-based and air-based search-and-track radars.

Onboard systems can also reduce pilot fatigue during long-range missions and provide a wider launch mission range. The F-22 uses "supercruise" technology, which allows the plane to fly supersonic without afterburner -- pumping raw fuel into the engine exhaust to provide a temporary boost in power and speed. Afterburner promotes a larger radar signature while improving fuel economy and limiting operating range.

In addition, the F-22's low-bypass hood in positionable "two-dimensional" convergent/divergent jet exhaust nozzles enhances the fighter's unparalleled agility in this class and gives it an inherent advantage in close combat. The main weapons are all strategically placed in the interior compartments to further reduce the angle to the outside of the machine.

In addition to the distinctly angular design edges of the F-22's fuselage, there are more subtle serrated panel edges that make up its interior gun bay doors and landing gear doors. Even the F-22's roof glass doesn't have the traditional frame to keep the plane's surface consistent and not distracting from spy radars.

The inherent structure of the F-22 is primarily titanium and composite alloys, and all these collective assets give the F-22 complete dominance day and night.