FUJIMI KIT #72222 1/72 SCALE F-22A RAPTOR REVIEW & BUILD
The Aircraft:
The F-22 Raptor is currently (as of May 2015) the only operational 5th generation stealth aircraft in the world. It is an air superiority aircraft, that also has precision strike capabilities and it is clearly recognized as the most effective, most powerful air superiority fighter in the world. The US F-35 Joint Strike fighter (JSF) is currently being tested and will be the second operational 5th generation stealth fighter. it is more of a strike fighter, whereas the F-22 is an air superiority fighter.
The Chinese are testing their six prototype J-20 aircraft, and the Russians are testing their five PAKFA aircraft. It is expected that those two aircraft will be the 3rd and 4th operational 5th generation stealth aircraft.
The Chinese are testing their six prototype was designed in the early 1970s and entered service in 1978 with US Air Force. It is the most widely produced and exported modern western fighter in the world, with over 5,000 aircraft delivered
So, in 2016 the F-35 will come on line in initial operational capability and in 2017-2019 the J-20 and PAKFA will most likely attain initial operating capability. the F-22 Raptor has been operational since 2005, over ten years ahead of the rest.
The F-22 came about as a result of the US Air Force Advanced Tactical Aircraft program that started in 1981 to prepare for the ultimate replacement of the F-15 Eagle and F0-16 Falcon aircraft. The program was directed specifically at taking advantage of the new technologies in fighter design which were just on the horizon in that time frame. This included composite materials, lightweight alloys, advanced flight-control systems, more powerful propulsion systems, and stealth technology.
A request for proposals (RFP) was issued in July 1986 seeking companies to submit prop[osals that would lead to the building of two prototype aircraft per company to conduct a fly off to determine the winner. Two contractor teams, Lockheed/Boeing/General Dynamics and Northrop/McDonnell Douglas, were selected on 31 October 1986 to undertake the 50-month demonstration phase, culminating in the flight test of the two technology demonstrator prototypes, which were designated the YF-22 and the YF-23.
Each team produced two prototype aircraft, one for each of two different engine options. These aircraft made numerous flights and were subjected to multiple tests. After all of the flight tests and all validations of the prototypes, the Secretary of the US Air Force announced on April 23, 1991 that the YF-22 had won the ATF competition.
Although the YF-23 design was considered stealthier and faster, the YF-22 demonstrated higher maneuverability. At the time, it was also speculated that the YF-22 was also more readily adaptable to the U.S. Navy's Navalized Advanced Tactical Fighter (NATF) program. However, by 1992, the Navy abandoned their NATF program.
The US Air Force originally ordered 750 aircraft at a cost of $26.2 billion, with production beginning in 1994. However, the 1990 Major Aircraft Review led by Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney reduced this to 648 aircraft beginning in 1996. By 1997, the number was cut the total to 339. By 2003, the procurement was listed to 277 F-22s. Then in 2004, the Department of Defense (DoD) finally reduced the number to 183 operational aircraft, despite the USAF's insistence that at least 339 would be required.
This major reduction in numbers drove the overall cost of the aircraft very high. Ultimately, each aircraft was estimated to cost in excess of $300 million dollars. Originally, the aircraft were intended to cost less than $100 million.
Once the award was announced in 1991, the Lockheed team moved forward. Flight testing of the first actual F-22 began in 1997 with Raptor 4001, which was the first EMD jet. Eight more F-22s were built to go through the EMD and flight test program, which was rigorous. In 2000 Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (AFB) began survivability testing, including live fire testing and battle damage repair training for the Air Force.
Finally, The first production F-22 was delivered to Nellis AFB, Nevada, in January 2003, twelve years after the award being granted.
In December 2005, the F-22 achieved initial operating capability. During Exercise Northern Edge in Alaska in June 2006, in simulated combat exercises twelve F-22s of the 94th FS downed one hundred and eight US Air Force adversaries with no losses. Overall, in Joint e4xercises that year, Raptor-led Blue Forces amassed 241 kills against two losses in air-to-air combat...and the two losses were not F-22s.
The next year, during Red Flag exercises in February 2007, fourteen F-22s of the 94th FS supported Blue Force strikes and undertook close air support sorties. Against superior numbers of Red Force Aggressor F-15s and F-16s, F-22s maintained total air dominance throughout the exercises.
Since attaining operational capability, the F-22 has been deployed in the United States for air defense. It was not until 2009 that the aircraft had its first international deployment at Al Dhafra Air Base in the UAE . In April 2012, F-22s have been rotating into Al Dhafra Air Base, less than 200 miles from Iran; the Iranian defense minister referred to the deployment as a security threat. In March 2013 the USAF announced that an F-22 had confronted and chased off an Iranian F-4 Phantom II that approached within 16 miles of an MQ-1 Predator flying off the Iranian coastline.
In June 2014, F-22s from the 199th Fighter Squadron of the Hawaii Air National Guard were deployed to Malaysia to participate in the Cope Taufan 2014 exercise conducted by the USAF Pacific Air Forces and Royal Malaysian Air Force.
On 22 September 2014, F-22s performed their first combat sorties during the American-led intervention against ISIS and Al Queda in Syria, Aircraft dropped 1,000-pound GPS-guided bombs on Islamic State targets. Combat operations in Syria continue at this date.
Aircraft General characteristics:
Length: 62 ft 1 in (18.92 m)
Wingspan: 44 ft 6 in (13.56 m)
Height: 16 ft 8 in (5.08 m)
Wing area: 840 ft² (78.04 m²)
Empty weight: 43,340 lb (19,700 kg)
Loaded weight: 64,840 lb (29,410 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 83,500 lb (38,000 kg)
Power plant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 pitch thrust vectoring turbofans
Dry thrust: 26,000 lb (116 kN) each
Thrust with afterburner: 35,000+ lb (156+ kN) each
Fuel capacity: 18,000 lb (8,200 kg) internally
Fuel Capacity: 26,000 lb (12,000 kg) with two external fuel tanks
Maximum speed:
- At altitude: Mach 2.25 (1,500 mph, 2,410 km/h)
- Super cruise: Mach 1.82 (1,220 mph, 1,960 km/h)
Range: 1,600+ nmi (1,840 mi, 2,960 km) with 2 external fuel tanks
Combat radius: 410 nmi (with 100 nmi in super cruise) (470 mi, 760 km)
Ferry range: 2,000 mi (1,740 nmi, 3,220 km)
Service ceiling: 65,000+ ft (20,000 m)
Wing loading: 77.2 lb/ft² (377 kg/m²)
Thrust/weight: 1.08
Maximum design g-load: -3.0/+9.0 g
Armament:
Guns: 1 × 20 mm (0.787 in) M61A2 Vulcan 6-barrel Gatling cannon, 480 rounds
Air to air load out:
- 6 × AIM-120 AMRAAM
- 2 × AIM-9 Sidewinder
Air to ground load out:
- 2 × 1,000 lb (450 kg) JDAM , 8
- 8 × 250 lb (110 kg) GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs
Hard points:
- 4 × under-wing pylon stations can be fitted to carry 600 U.S. gallon drop tanks or weapons, each with a capacity of 5,000 lb (2,270 kg)
Sensors:
- AN/APG-77 radar: 125–150 miles (200–240 km) against 1 m2 (11 sq ft) targets (estimated range)
- AN/AAR-56 Missile Launch Detector (MLD)
- AN/ALR-94 radar warning receiver (RWR): 250 nmi (463 km) or more detection range
- MJU-39/40 flares for protection against IR missiles
The Kit:
There are numerous kits for F-22 Raptors on the market. In looking at kits, I found that the Fujimi kit was the best form my perspective.
It has more features and options.
For example, the Fujimi kit allows the Jet Engines to be removed from the kit and placed on an external maintenance cart. The Fujimi kit as movable Thrust vectoring veins, movable aerilons, and contains the best detail for the weapons bays and landing gear bays. In addition, the weapons loadout includes a full compliment of air to air and air to ground weapons. it also has either a clear or smoked canopy for the aircraft.
Outside of all of that, Fujimi makes very good model kits. They have little or no falsh. They produce high detail injected plastic parts.
This kit has the major fuselage in two pieces, an upper and lower. It comes with six frets/sprues of plastic parts, all modeled in grey. It also has the clear and smoked canopy parts.
All bays and landing gear can be depicted in either the lowered or raised position.
I intend to show the gear down, the main weapons bay open, and one of the side weapons bay open showing the Sidewinder missile.
I will build it to be able to remove one of the engines to place on the cart.
The decals look very good...with a lot of all sorts of detail for the various panels around the aircraft.
The instructions and paint guide are all in Japanese, but they appear intuitive, even if they are somewhat sparse.
Here's how the aircraft looked out of the box:
