F-22 Raptor Thread

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
The USAF has fighter bombers and then bomber bombers but the F111 nicely fit between both and had one farther role Sead in the EB111 since F111 was retired the USAF has been forced to make do with simple retrofits of a few F16C/D and borrowed EA6 intruders.
The USAF had intended for Raptor to take all the F15C/Ds out of service and then follow on with a replacement for the F15E but when F22 was cut that plan was scrubbed.

The F15E was the platform introduced that best fit some of the F111's mission role in that it does bombing but it's no Jammer and with the age of the F15C/D fleet when F22 orders were cut it seems that the USAF was put in a position of trying to reach optimum performance from what it has. F15E's pedigree is a fighter. It can strike sure but its still a air superiority air frame with a few changes it has proven a more then capable Gen 4.5 fighter and the possibility of Silent eagle pushes it into Gen 4.75. However its no jammer and as a fighter it has range and operations limitations.

In the End F35 has rolled in with potential for fine multiroler but its payload makes sacrifices and its not planned to be a true SEAD bird.

This is where LRS-B may role in. Its being hyped primarily for its Strategic bomber mission but it expands beyond that into the regional bombing of F111 and might open enough up to allow F15E to be cycled into a multi tasking bird allowing the oldest of the F15C/D models to stand down and letting Raptor go offensive. That said there would still be gaps and a new Jammer would nicely fill some of that.

X44 Manta was a technology demonstrator intended to push possible technologies for a Sixth generation fighter. It was never built. It was however a modified derivative of it was the option given by Lockheed Martin early on as a alternative to what we now call LRS-B. As was the Idea of resurrecting YF23. I have no idea where FB32 came from or even what that is, X32 was Boeing's Offer for the JSF program. That program is today the F35 Lightning II. X32 would frankly make a terrible bomber it had a tiny internal weapons capacity compared to X35, the wing and tail caused nothing but trouble the whole aircraft was going to need redesign if it had been selected for JSF.

In the end The USAF has gone to a LRS-B based more on a dedicated albeit subscale Bomber.

X44 and Boeing.
We.often forget that the F22A is a groundbreaking bird and was a massive program. Now as some have pointed out there is a passing resemblance between the X44 concept and some of the Boeing Concept art. Well remember that Boeing was the second largest contractor on the Raptor. Its often called the Lockheed Martin Boeing F22 because Boeing built nearly half the fighter. Lockheed Martin was the system integrator and designer but they partnered and the list of partnerships for the Raptor was a mile long even Northrop Grumman who's YF23 completed against Raptor was involved in avionics systems and components of the F22A. So seeing some resemblance is logical.
 
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Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
The USAF has fighter bombers and then bomber bombers but the F111 nicely fit between both and had one farther role Sead in the EB111 since F111 was retired the USAF has been forced to make do with simple retrofits of a few F16C/D and borrowed EA6 intruders.
The USAF had intended for Raptor to take all the F15C/Ds out of service and then follow on with a replacement for the F15E but when F22 was cut that plan was scrubbed.

The F15E was the platform introduced that best fit some of the F111's mission role in that it does bombing but it's no Jammer and with the age of the F15C/D fleet when F22 orders were cut it seems that the USAF was put in a position of trying to reach optimum performance from what it has. F15E's pedigree is a fighter. It can strike sure but its still a air superiority air frame with a few changes it has proven a more then capable Gen 4.5 fighter and the possibility of Silent eagle pushes it into Gen 4.75. However its no jammer and as a fighter it has range and operations limitations.

In the End F35 has rolled in with potential for fine multiroler but its payload makes sacrifices and its not planned to be a true SEAD bird.

This is where LRS-B may role in. Its being hyped primarily for its Strategic bomber mission but it expands beyond that into the regional bombing of F111 and might open enough up to allow F15E to be cycled into a multi tasking bird allowing the oldest of the F15C/D models to stand down and letting Raptor go offensive. That said there would still be gaps and a new Jammer would nicely fill some of that.

X44 Manta was a technology demonstrator intended to push possible technologies for a Sixth generation fighter. It was never built. It was however a modified derivative of it was the option given by Lockheed Martin early on as a alternative to what we now call LRS-B. As was the Idea of resurrecting YF23. I have no idea where FB32 came from or even what that is, X32 was Boeing's Offer for the JSF program. That program is today the F35 Lightning II. X32 would frankly make a terrible bomber it had a tiny internal weapons capacity compared to X35, the wing and tail caused nothing but trouble the whole aircraft was going to need redesign if it had been selected for JSF.

In the end The USAF has gone to a LRS-B based more on a dedicated albeit subscale Bomber.

X44 and Boeing.
We.often forget that the F22A is a groundbreaking bird and was a massive program. Now as some have pointed out there is a passing resemblance between the X44 concept and some of the Boeing Concept art. Well remember that Boeing was the second largest contractor on the Raptor. Its often called the Lockheed Martin Boeing F22 because Boeing built nearly half the fighter. Lockheed Martin was the system integrator and designer but they partnered and the list of partnerships for the Raptor was a mile long even Northrop Grumman who's YF23 completed against Raptor was involved in avionics systems and components of the F22A. So seeing some resemblance is logical.

Terran, I believe Master Blitzo was having a dyslexic moment and was referring to the YF-23 as a Fighter Bomber and transposed the 2 and the 3, getting YF-32 instead of YF-23, he was correct in asserting there is NO money in hand for developing such an aircraft at present?
 

Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
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F-22-closeup-during-refueling.jpg

Aviationist said:
Although they were not conceived to play this kind of role, F-22 Raptors have emerged as some of the U.S.-led Coalition’s most reliable combat assets in supporting coalition planes during air strikes in Syria and Iraq.

At the beginning of July, U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor jets
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. Little more than a month ago, the
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deployed to
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had dropped 270 bombs on targets located in 60 of the 7,900 locations hit by the other aircraft supporting
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Even though the largest number of air strikes is carried out by other assets, it looks like the role played by the F-22 is pivotal to ensure the safety of the other aircraft involved in the air campaign: the Raptors act as
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escorting strike packages into and out of the target area while gathering details about the enemy systems and spreading intelligence to other “networked” assets supporting the mission to improve the overall situational awareness.

“We are operating regularly in Iraq and Syria. The F-22’s advanced sensors and low-observable characteristics enable us to operate much closer to non-coalition surface-to-air missiles and fighter aircraft with little risk of detection,” said Lt. Col. J. (name withheld for security reasons) in a recent 380th Air Expeditionary Wing release. “We provide increased situational awareness for other coalition aircraft while simultaneously delivering precision air-to-ground weapons. This allows us to reduce the risk to our forces while mitigating the risk to civilian casualties, one of our highest priorities in this conflict. It is a true multirole aircraft.”

In simple words, the F-22 pilot leverage advanced onboard sensors to collect valuable details about the enemy Order of Battle, then they share the “picture” with attack planes, command and control assets, as well as Airborne Early Warning aircraft, while escorting other manned or unmanned aircraft towards the targets. As happened when they facilitated the retaliatory air strikes conducted by the Royal Jordanian Air Force F-16s after the burning alive of the
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Needless to say, every now and then they can also attack their own targets using Precision Guided Munitions: two 1,000-lb GBU-32 JDAMs (Joint Direct Attack Munitions) or 8
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“which have been successfully employed against key ISIL targets. [The SDB] is extremely accurate from very long distances and has the lowest collateral damage potential of any weapon in our inventory.”

Therefore, although this may not be what the F-22 was conceived for, the
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is excelling in a new role: making other aircraft more survivable in contested airspaces like Syria and Iraq.

Watch KC-135 refueling an F-22 Raptor:

 

Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
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Raptors are now headed to Europe, now ya see um, now ya don't?? HEH! HEH! HEH! I love it when a plan comes together? now you're dealing, "with the A TEAM"! Aim High, Go Air Force

SSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHSSSSHHHHSSSHSSSShS, can you say whisper jet boys and girls??? ssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

sorry Jeff, I was attempting to edit out the video and save some of that there ram or some such?? feel free to fix it, and thank you in advance!
 
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Raptors are now headed to Europe, ...

I noticed on some Polish server today, now I found you a link :)
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picture of Mrs. James inside and they say she didn't provide "details" about how many, when, and where F-22s will go ...

EDIT
... and now I see the Polish server had it right:
"James would not disclose how many F-22s are heading to Europe, exactly when they would arrive nor where they would be based."
according to
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Miragedriver

Brigadier
F-22 Raptors Will Be Deploying To Europe To Send A Strong Message To Russia

After teasing the possibility of Raptors deploying to Europe months ago, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James has confirmed to reporters that Raptor is indeed going to be sent to Europe as part of an ongoing initiative to reassure NATO allies of America’s commitment to their defense.

Secretary James made it clear that the move to send the F-22 to Russia’s front doorstep is part of Defense Secretary Ashton Carter’s “strong and balanced” approach to reminding Russia of the consequences of extra-border ambitions:

“Rotational forces and training exercises help us maintain our strong and balanced approach, and we will certainly be continuing those in the future… For the Air Force, an F-22 deployment is certainly on the strong side of the coin.”

Exactly what F-22 unit will be sent to Europe and where they would be based remains unclear, although General. Mark Welsh, the U.S. Air Force’s Chief of Staff noted:

“We’ll get the F-22 into facilities that we would potentially use in a conflict in Europe… This is a natural evolution of our bringing our best air-to-air capability in to train with partners… We have an aircraft with pretty advanced capabilities, and we need, and they would like, for us to be able to interoperate in multiple type scenarios… And being able to train side by side with them and do that kind of training is really, really important for us. And that’s what this is for.”

The Raptor’s inaugural long-term deployment to Europe (it has had a near constant presence in the Middle East) will most likely follow along the lines of what the Florida and Oregon Air National Guard have executed in their F-15C/Ds since Spring. As part of the ongoing Operation Atlantic Resolve, the Eagles hopped East from one key NATO base to another, training with local units along the way, before ending up at a temporary Eastern European air defense post.

Sending a detachment of Raptors to Europe also points to the possibility that things are not necessarily improving when it comes to Russian-NATO relations. If anything else, they are getting worse as forward deploying the world’s only truly operational 5th generation fighter to Eastern Europe is a card best held until needed.

Then again, the size of America’s air superiority fighter fleet has shrunk so much over the last 25 years that the Eagle community, made up of about 192 aircraft in total (about 25 percent of which are being used for training and development), may not be able to sustain these types of deployments alone while also meeting their homeland defense, regional deterrent and their many training goals. Additionally, both aircraft, the super complex F-22 and the aging F-15C, require large amounts of maintenance to keep them airworthy at any given time. As such, calling the F-22 to deploy to Europe may be an acknowledgement of an inevitable logistical reality as much as a strategic play.


Back to bottling my Grenache
 

FORBIN

Lieutenant General
Registered Member
Found it, some comments ;)

To reduce the infrared signature F-22 has a sophisticated cooling system. The heat is discharged into the fuel and elsewhere in the wake of the reactors. This system has been calculated with a reduced tolerance when the plane finishes its mission, the internals are high temperature and reduce heat, the weapons bays are open to the ground. This is one of the reasons why the maintenance costs of the F-22 are particularly high.
 
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