Tag Archives: F-22

F-22 math

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A U.S Air Force KC-10 Extender refuels an F-22 Raptor fighter aircraft prior to strike operations in Syria, Sept. 26, 2014. These aircraft were part of a strike package that was engaging ISIL targets in Syria. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Russ Scalf)

The Air Force originally wanted a bunch of F-22s– like 750 besides test airframes– but in the end, due to budgetary reasons, just 187 operational aircraft were purchased.

Of those, some 55 were stationed at Tyndall AFB outside of Panama City, Florida– right in the path of Hurricane Michael on Oct. 10th.

While each that was air-ready sortied for points North (to Langley AFB), 33 had to be left behind for one reason or another to be sheltered in place, most designated Non-Mission Capable.

Footage from the base shown immediately after exhibited destroyed hangars with F-22s in the rubble (along with CV-22s and QF-16s) and hands went up across the aviation and defense community.

Well, chill, because it only looked bad.

All of the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jets left behind when Michael hit Tyndall last month will be flown off the base for repairs by Monday, according to Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan.

Which is great news, because the line is closed for good and each of these Raptors is almost invaluable at this point.

Air Superiority, 1945 meets 2017

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Official caption: To celebrate 70 years of air dominance, the United States Air Force showcased an array of aircraft at the 2017 Royal International Air Tattoo, July 16, 2017, at RAF Fairford, United Kingdom!

(U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Brian Kimball)

(U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Brian Kimball)

This shot is great, showing a Lockheed-Martin F-22 Raptor keeping pace with a North American P-51 Mustang, the Cadillac of the sky.

The P-51 is made up to match Inglewood-made P-51D-5-NA, #44-13318, “Frenesi” flown by USAAF ace Lt. Col. Thomas L. Hayes, Jr. of the 357th Fighter Group, and is complete with 84 bomb marks, each indicating a completed ground attack mission rather than a bomb strike, as well as two Japanese kill marks and nine German ones.

In actuality, she is a late-production Dallas-made P-51/F-51K (P-51D with a different propeller, widely exported postwar) SN 44-12852, FAA N357FG, a former air racer and Dominican Air Force fighter recently very nicely restored by Dan Friedkin and the crew at Midwest Aero Restorations, Danville IL. She is one of only 1,500 or so Mustang-Ks made.

The F-22A is a late-model Block 35 bird, SN 09-4180, delivered in 2009, and active with the 27th FS/1st Fighter Wing, Langley AFB, and has no mission marks as of yet. She is one of only 195 made, though production only halted on her line in 2012.

Bring on the Raptors!

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090622-N-7780S-014 GULF OF ALASKA (June 22, 2009) An Air Force F-22 Raptor executes a supersonic flyby over the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74). John C. Stennis is participating in Northern Edge 2009, a joint exercise focusing on detecting and tracking units at sea, in the air and on land. (U.S. Navy photo by Sonar Technician (Surface) 1st Class Ronald Dejarnett/Released)

090622-N-7780S-014 GULF OF ALASKA (June 22, 2009) An Air Force F-22 Raptor executes a supersonic flyby over the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74). John C. Stennis is participating in Northern Edge 2009, a joint exercise focusing on detecting and tracking units at sea, in the air and on land. (U.S. Navy photo by Sonar Technician (Surface) 1st Class Ronald Dejarnett/Released)

The House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday added a mark-up to the FY2017 policy bill, released by panel’s Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee, directing the Air Force to look into restarting the F-22 Raptor line again after just 187 aircraft were produced.

“In light of growing threats to U.S. air superiority as a result of adversaries closing the technology gap and increasing demand from allies and partners for high performance, multi-role aircraft to meet evolving and worsening global security threats, the committee believes that such proposals are worthy of further exploration,” reads the legislation.

Big Blue would have to report on the study to the congressional defense committees no later than Jan. 1, 2017.

However, the news likely won’t be good unless the new 115th Congress in session then has access to deep pockets and the will to go rooting around in them. As noted by Defense News, a 2010 RAND study commissioned by the Air Force placed the cost to buy just 75 more F-22s at $17 billion in 2008 dollars.

Which is $227 milly per jet.

Of course the F-35 is somewhere between $148 million and $337 million per jet in 2015, depending on the model used, so there is that…

F-22 talking smack with IRIAF F-4

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The Aviationist reports that in March a U.S. MQ-1 drone came close to being intercepted by an Iranian F-4 Phantom combat plane, but the Iranian aircraft stopped short after a warning by an American pilot.

"Showtime," is a piece of art painted by Air Force Reserves historian, Maj. Warren Neary, and was presented to Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III in the Pentagon, June 20, 2014. Neary contributed "Showtime," and another work, "Bandage 33," through the Air Force Art Program, and Chief of Air Force Reserves Gen. James "JJ" Jackson unveiled the two pieces for Welsh. (U.S. Air Force photo/Scott M. Ash)

“Showtime,” is a piece of art painted by Air Force Reserves historian, Maj. Warren Neary, and was presented to Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III in the Pentagon, June 20, 2014.  (U.S. Air Force photo/Scott M. Ash) Click to big-up

“He [the Raptor pilot] flew under their aircraft [the F-4s] to check out their weapons load without them knowing that he was there, and then pulled up on their left wing and then called them and said ‘you really ought to go home,’” Gen. Welsh said.

According to The Aviationist, the Iranians came within 16 miles of the drone.

How to Shoot Down a F-22?

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The DEW line has a very informative story on how a top USAF general describes exactly how to shoot down a F-22, but relating how they did it in practice with what is essentially 1970s era technology F-15Cs

In Fighterpilot speak he says, ” They [the F-22s] always start defensive as you might imagine because anything else is kind of a waste of gas. So the F-22 always start defensive. On rare occasions the F-22 guy — first of all, the [F-15] Eagle guy, you have to fly a perfect lag fight (flight?). You have to have AIM-9X and JHMCS [joint helmet mounted cueing system] to get an off-boresight IR [infrared] capability. And the F-22 guy has to put up his power a nanosecond too early and not use his countermeasures and you may get a fleeting, one nanosecond AIM-9X shot, and that’s about it.”

and,

“”We’ve been fighting the Raptor and getting our butts kicked, and you know the only chance you have against the Raptor is when he’s in the turn and he’s coming around the corner — and you have an inexperienced guy because the experienced guys know not to get there — but the inexperienced guy has got — and this is, no [shoot], 28-degrees-per-second turn rate at 20,000 feet. The F-15 has an instantaneous [turn rate] of 21 [degrees] and a sustained [turn rate] of about 15-20 degrees. The Raptor can sustain 28 degrees. Some of these young guys, that’s not enough for them. They want more than that! So they come around the corner, and, here you are in your Eagle, just hoping that he gets scared and … [the F-22 pilot] pulls to the point where he’s going post-stall maneuvering. Once he goes post-stall, the airplane stops moving around the center of lift on the wing and it goes around the center of gravity up by the nose because it goes on just thrust, and the ass-end drops down, and the airplane will rotate like this. Well, in the Eagle, or in the [F-16] Viper, when you see that, you immediately go vertical because you know he’s not going to be able to go up with you, and you have one fleeting opportunity against the Raptor and that’s it.”

DOH!

I bet they love him over at DARPA.

In hindsight the kill ratio with F-15 vs F-22 violence was still something around 30 kills for the F-22 for every F-15 kill…..which is kinda like what you would get from pitting a P-51 Mustang against an F-16 Viper…its possible, but just really isn’t probable.

Last F-22 produced, equipment stored

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According to Aviation Week, http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=defense&id=news/awx/2011/12/13/awx_12_13_2011_p0-405930.xml&headline=U.S.%20Mothballs%20F-22%20Production%20Gear%20for%20MRO

The last of the 187 F-22’s have come off the line.

The fleet, as conceived during the Cold War, was to have been 750. That dropped to 381, then 243, before former Defense Secretary Robert Gates capped it at 187 in a belt-tightening move over program backers’ strong objections.

A total of more than 30,000 jigs, fixtures and other “tooling” used to build the plane are being logged into a database and tucked into containers, some custom built, for long-term storage at Sierra Army Depot, Herlong, California.

The hardware is valued at $2 billion to $3 billion, according to Lockheed, the Pentagon’s No. 1 supplier by sales.

Now as long as no one sets a fire at  Herlong California in the weeks before a US/China war, we should be good to reopen the production line in a year or two of hard work…