Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor

[sanaqueen]

Re: ADA LCA Tejas - IV

Thank for sharing this beautiful and brilliant articles.

 

[Defcon 1]

Re: ADA LCA Tejas - IV

I don't think it is as simple as that. Detection is not tracking.

By the time the F-22 is detected, it may have left the area. The window for radar detection is mere seconds anyway.

The point of the F-22 is it gives the pilot first shoot capability. Even if stealth is defensive, the missile fired is not. You can't go on the offensive when there are two or three missiles headed towards you. You need to go on the defensive before you shake off those missiles. After that the F-22 may still get a second chance before you are able to close in. In case you did close in, the F-22 has a higher service ceiling and speed than most other aircraft, it will escape. If we consider the F-22's wingman, they can pass tracking duties between each other to confuse the attacked aircraft's RWR sensors. No point trying to catch aircraft that can do Mach 1.6 for 40+ minutes.

Anyway, passive tracking is not easy, fictional as far as today's technology is concerned. No point getting a rough location when the F-22 has more accurate radar info. Let's not forget there would be hundreds of other aircraft in the air to discern from, friendly and hostile.

The onboard electrical power output on the F-22 is over 150 KW of which the radar may not use more than 20KW considering it is AESA. No onboard jammer as well. There is no saying what else the F-22 carries in order to use that humongous power..

F-16 B52 pilots have claimed they cannot fight the F-15C in a BVR match, on forums, especially when the F-15C goes all guns blazing unrestricted by training rules.

Also a note, a British exchange pilot on a F-15D couldn't even generate consistent gun tracking against the F-22 after merge. All other F-22 exercises with foreign pilots and aircraft have been with a Luneberg reflector installed.

YF23 could have done all that better than YF22. If this is the center of F22 doctrine, why was was YF22 selected?

 

[ersakthivel]

Re: ADA LCA Tejas - IV

YF23 could have done all that better than YF22. If this is the center of F22 doctrine, why was was YF22 selected?

This has got nothing to do with tejas , please shift this debate to dedicated stealth fighter thread.

Thanks.

 

[p2prada]

Re: ADA LCA Tejas - IV

YF23 could have done all that better than YF22. If this is the center of F22 doctrine, why was was YF22 selected?

We don't know all the reasons why YF-23 was rejected. What we do know is that both YF-22 and YF-23 exceeded stealth requirements. So you can say the other qualities were deemed better on YF-22, like agility and cost of development.

 

[asianobserve]

U.S. F-22 Stealth Fighter Pilot Taunted Iranian F-4 Phantom Combat Planes Over the Persian Gulf
The Aviationist
Sep 19 2013

Earlier this year, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little, said that an IRIAF (Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force) F-4 Phantom combat plane attempted to intercept a U.S. MQ-1 drone flying in international airspace off Iran.

As we reported back then, one of the two F-4 Phantom jets came to about 16 miles from the UAV but broke off pursuit after they were broadcast a warning message by two American planes escorting the Predator.

The episode happened in March 2013, few months after a two Sukhoi Su-25 attack planes operated by the Pasdaran (informal name of the IRGC – the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution) attempted to shoot down an American MQ-1 flying a routine surveillance flight in international airspace some 16 miles off Iran, the interception of the unmanned aircraft failed. After this attempted interception the Pentagon decided to escort the drones involved in ISR (intelligence surveillance reconnaissance) missions with fighter jets (either F-18 Hornets with the CVW 9 embarked on the USS John C. Stennis whose Carrier Strike Group is currently in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility or F-22 Raptors like those deployed to Al Dhafra in the UAE.

New details about the episode were recently disclosed by Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh who on Sept. 17 not only confirmed that the fighter jets providing HVAAE (High Value Air Asset Escort) were F-22 stealth fighters but also said that:

"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'"

If the episode went exactly as Welsh described it, it was something more similar to Maverick's close encouter with Russian Mig-28s in Top Gun movie than a standard interception.

It would be interesting to know how the Raptor managed to remain stealth (did they use their radar? were they vectored by an AWACS? etc.) and why it was not the E-2 most probably providing Airborne Early Warning in the area to broadcast the message to persuade the F-4 to pursuit the drone before the Iranian Phantoms and the U.S. Raptors got too close in a potentially dangerous and tense situation?

Anyway the U.S. pilot achieved to scare the Iranian pilots off and save the drone. A happy ending worthy of an action movie.

The Aviationist » U.S. F-22 stealth fighter pilot taunted Iranian F-4 Phantom combat planes over the Persian Gulf

 

[p2prada]

It looks like the F-4s were blindsided.

 

[SajeevJino]

U.S. F-22 Stealth Fighter Pilot Taunted Iranian F-4 Phantom Combat Planes Over the Persian Gulf
The Aviationist
Sep 19 2013

I get the News when the Incident Happens .I can surely say It's Two IRAF F14 Tom cats ..Not the F-4 Phantom

http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/west-asia-africa/20816-syrian-crisis-183.html#post785042

Post No 2745

This is also from aviationist.com when the incident Happens Mar 14 2013

http://theaviationist.com/2013/03/14/iranian-failed-interception/#.UjrujH_HyVl

Again I will say It was the F 14 not the F 4

 

[asianobserve]

The MArch 14 Aviationist article said that 2 F4 Phantoms intercepted the MQ1.

 

[lookieloo]

The Aviationist » U.S. F-22 stealth fighter pilot taunted Iranian F-4 Phantom combat planes over the Persian Gulf

"Watch the birdie!!"

 

[SajeevJino]

A new PACAF concept gets F-22s to the fight fast Rapid Raptors​

F-22 officers at JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, have devised an operations concept that allows for dispatching the stealth fighters, along with a tailored support package, to any forward operating location where they will be ready for flight operations within 24 hours.


According to officials at Pacific Air Forces and the 3rd Wing at Elmendorf, the initiative to enable Raptors to deploy in a smaller package, move quickly, and be combat ready in 24 hours has already paid dividends.

PACAF Commander Gen. Herbert J. Carlisle in a September interview said one of the area-denial strategies that potential adversaries have invested in greatly in the last decade is the ability to hold at risk US installations such as Kadena AB, Japan, or Andersen AFB, Guam. Large volumes of short- and medium-range ballistic missiles complicate contingency planning, he noted.

"A potential adversary knows that one of the things about the Air Force is that we launch and recover from fixed bases, which become fairly easily targetable if you want to do something to them," Carlisle said. "The idea is you can move airplanes to different locations and not leave them at a fixed location for a long period of time. There are a lot of airfields out there."

The concept was briefed by members of Elmendorf's 525th Fighter Squadron to Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III during his visit to Alaska in August.

Until now, traditional F-22 deployments to large bases such as Kadena, Andersen, and Osan AB, South Korea, required a good deal of logistical tail—everything from spare parts to weapons to materials used to maintain the jet's stealthiness. This problem drove officers to look at and streamline the F-22's deployment model.

The result is the "rapid Raptor package," a tailored four-ship deployment of F-22s paired with specific materials, munitions, and key maintainers flying aboard an accompanying C-17.

The F-22 concept has been tested multiple times and featured in exercises. Indeed, this past summer, PACAF F-22s from Hawaii deployed to Wake Island, a small coral atoll some 2,300 miles west of JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. For three days, a two-ship flight with 29 airmen showed that F-22s could stage off the island.

They "demonstrated that, if necessary, with little advance notice, we can rapidly deploy to Wake Island, which has the necessary infrastructure in place to support our aircraft and operations," said Lt. Col. Mark E. Ladtkow, commander of the Hawaii Air Guard's 199th Fighter Squadron.

The deployment concept is scalable, and it involves a smaller logistics footprint than a traditional theater security package deployment to fixed installations. "If you have the right capability on a C-17 ... and you have the F-22s, you can move them together, quickly," Carlisle said.

He said this is an element of "passive defense," just as important, if not more so, to operations in the Asia-Pacific region as hardening facilities to survive a barrage of ballistic missiles. Dispersing high-value assets such as the F-22 and keeping an enemy guessing about where they are—or where they could be heading—changes an adversary's strategic calculus.

"He may know [the Raptors] are there, but by the time he wants to do anything about it, you won't be there anymore," Carlisle said.

Rapid Raptors


Click to download as a PDF Copy

http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Documents/2013/November%202013/1113raptors.pdf

 

[cobra commando]

Lockheed wins $562 million contract to modify F-22 fighter


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) has won a contract valued at up to $562 million to provide nine months of support, logistics and modifications for the stealthy F-22 fighter jet, the Pentagon announced on Friday. The contract, which includes reliability and maintainability upgrades, runs through September 30, it said in a daily digest of major weapons contracts.


Lockheed wins $562 million contract to modify F-22 fighter | Reuters

 

[SajeevJino]

F-22 will provide targeting for submarine based Tomahawk cruise missiles​

In an interview General Hawk Carlisle gave to Breaking Defense, the PACAF commander provided several interesting examples of how Pacific Defense is reshaping around capabilities becoming available across the different services.

One of them, sees 5th generation aircraft to provide forward target identification for strike missiles launched from a surface warship or submerged submarine.

Indeed, Carlisle "described the ability of advanced aircraft, in this case the F-22, to provide forward targeting through its sensors for submarine based T-LAMS (cruise missiles) as both a more effective use of the current force and a building block for the emergence of the F-35 fleet in the Pacific."

Leveraging cross-domain sinergy, Air Force and joint assets can provide greater capability within a "distributed strike package" that would see the multi-role stealthy Raptors as "electronic warfare enabled sensor-rich aircraft" that will have to fulfill several different tasks. Including, targeting and information gathering.

The current focus is on exploiting advanced war tech to get a better picture of the target (and hit it surgically) as well as moving assets in place as quickly as possible: the U.S. Air Force has already developed a new Rapid Raptor deployment concept to deploy a package of four F-22s (hardly trackable because of the small footprint) within 24 hours of deploying orders with the aim to have them where needed while preventing adversaries from knowing from which airbases they will be launched.

The Aviationist » F-22 will provide targeting for submarine based Tomahawk cruise missiles

 

[SajeevJino]

F-22 Raptors deploying to Kadena Air Base, Japan​

Approximately 12 F-22 Raptors and about 300 personnel from Langley Air Force Base, Va., are set to deploy to Kadena AB in mid-January, demonstrating continuing U.S. commitment to stability and security in the Asia-Pacific Region.

Air Combat Command continues to routinely deploy aircraft to the Asia-Pacific Region, providing Pacific Air Forces and the U.S. Pacific Command commanders a Theater Security Package in the region, deepening ties with our allies and our relationship with the international community.

Movement of the U.S. Air Force fighters into the Pacific has been ongoing since March 2004, in order to maintain a prudent deterrent against threats to regional security and stability.

F-22 Raptors deploying to Kadena Air Base, Japan

 

[gadeshi]

Feeling cristmas :

And an official Chinese reaction on Kadena deployment:
http://www.militaryparitet.com/perevodnie/data/ic_perevodnie/5239/

 

[cobra commando]

Lockheed Secretly
Demonstrates New Stealthy
Fighter Comms


Lockheed Secretly Demonstrates New Stealthy Fighter Comms

 

[SajeevJino]

F-22s Finally Fit to Fly

More than 24 months since the last suffocation incident, the U.S. Air Force in finally equipping its F-22 stealth fighters with new back-up oxygen systems.

https://medium.com/war-is-boring/e26dda6af520

 

[cobra commando]

F-22 Availability Lags Despite $11Bn Investment

Despite large investments to modernize its F-22 fighters and improve their availability, the US Air force does not expect that the aircraft will ever meet its revised contractual availability rate of 70.6%. Availability is currently about 60%. Furthermore, some of the planned modifications are aimed at "achieving a requirement that may no longer be valid (and so) may be unwarranted," but investments continue because of management inertia. These are the main conclusions of a May 15 report by the Government Accountability Office (see following item) which paints an unflattering picture of the F-22 program, with continuing corrosion problems that may cause 'stealth' coatings to be replaced, excessively long and costly depot-level maintenance, and continuing technical issues. Some of the report's major findings are excerpted below. The report also states that, on top of its $67 billion investment in F-22 development and acquisition, the US Air Force is paying an additional $11.3 billion to modernize its 182 active F-22s. In other words, each active F-22 has cost $430 million to buy and upgrade, excluding operations and maintenance costs which are much higher than initially thought. In fact, "a contractor-owned depot" in Palmdale, California, is so expensive that the air force is transferring the work to a government-owned depot at Ogden, Utah. Here are some excerpts from the report: -- Since 2003, the Air Force has undertaken a number of efforts to modernize the F-22 and make improvements that address the aircraft's reliability and structural problems.


Read more here:
F-22 Availability Lags Despite $11Bn Investment

 

[cobra commando]

Air Force Evaluating New
Targeting Monocle for F-22
Raptor

The U.S. Air Force's elite 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron recently evaluated the Thales Visionix Scorpion helmet- mounted cueing system on the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., according to a senior service official. The service had hoped to test the full-color lightweight paddle- shaped monocle display onboard the Raptor in the summer of 2013, however the Congressionally- mandated sequestration automatic budget cuts put an abrupt halt on those activities. But even though money is tight, the Air Force personnel with the Nellis-based operational test community worked closely with the F-22 System Program Office (SPO) in Dayton, Ohio, to put a new test series together for the Scorpion. "There were some close calls but the folks at Nellis working with the SPO made it happen," says one senior Air Force official familiar with the effort to integrate the Scorpion onto the Raptor.

[highlight]Thales Visionix Scorpion helmet- mounted cueing system. Thales Visionix Photo[/highlight]

Pilots from the elite 422nd TES, who performed the evaluation, are in the process of writing their report, but initial feedback suggests that the operational testers are thrilled with the new helmet-mounted sight. The integration of the Scorpion is a major step for the Raptor community, which currently lacks a helmet-mounted cueing system such as the Vision Systems International (VSI) Joint Helmet- Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS) used on the F-15, F-16 and F/A-18 tactical fighters.



Read more here:
Air Force Evaluating New Targeting Monocle for F-22 Raptor | USNI News

 

[cobra commando]

F-22 pilot reaches 1,000 hours


http://www.tyndall.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123417115

 

[cobra commando]

Tyndall AFB takes F-22 pilot training to next level