It’s expensive, but it’s baaaahaaad.
 

The deadliest fighter jet goes operational.
March 2006

The F22 Raptor air superiority fighter is the meanest airplane in the skies, and now its' coming to a TFR near you.
It’s official: The United States Air Force has certified the world’s only "fifth generation" fighter jet as operationally ready. The Lockheed Martin F-22 combines supersonic speed (including supersonic cruise without afterburner) with stealth and advanced targeting, weaponry and defense capabilities to make it hands down the most advanced fighter jet on the planet. With plans to field 183 Raptors in all, the Air Force has already begun to fly operational missions with the jet, including homeland defense missions, so you might see one any day now.
It wasn’t a short gestation period for the world’s best air superiority fighter. The need for a jet like the F-22 to replace the F-15 was first officially voiced by the Air Force in the early 1980s. But the first flight of the prototype YF-22 didn’t take place until 1990, while the first supersonic flight wouldn’t occur for another seven years.
While much of its performance remains classified, according to some reports, in aerial combat tests against F-15s and other frontline U.S. fighters, the
F-22 had a near perfect "kill record" and was never picked up by its foes’ radar during mock combat flights.
Such capabilities come at a price, though: The cost of each F-22, by some estimates, is around $125 million.

http://www.flyingmag.com/assets/imag...2006141727.jpg

Linky.

That's really cool. But...


YF23 > YF22

http://www.voodoo.cz/yf23/

:)

Only 183 to replace the almost 500 F-15s that were in service at one time. That is worrisome.

I had the opportunity to go and visit the F22 production line. One amazing stat was it's fly time was twice the F15 and could cruise at super sonic speeds giving it 3 times the distance without refueling.

I've seen them flying over Atlanta before, that's one bad mamba jamma.

Considering that eight of them recently took out 33 F-15Cs in an exercise without a single loss, I wouldn't be that concerned.

Su-35/Su-37. :D

Peh. An Air Force pilot in a Cessna could shoot one of those down.

They do have great ejection seats, however, which is nice.

Weeeee!

Wow.

ROFL

In all seriousness the Mig series were pretty sweet, though they were basically just copies of the F series with modifications/improvements. Them Ruskies sure knew how to steal a good design.

I'm sure you know this, but there are whole websites dedicated to the F-22 vs. Su-35/37 hypothetical dogfights.

It was pretty interesting what the Russians were able to do with a lot less technology in the airplanes.

1. Russian pilots versus American pilots. Sorry, but the training isn't comparable.

2. Non-stealth versus stealth. Kind hard to fight when you're already dead.

3. American avionics are still FAR superior to Russian.

4. Sure the SUs can do some really cool tricks, but the odds of the SUs surviving long enough for the "Cobra" and other stuff to come into play are very low.

The old adage of "he who sees the other guy first and shoots first, wins" is still very applicable to 5G aircraft.

While to a very technical level that bolded statement is true, (i.e. an F117 will appear as a object about the size of a large bird on a radar screen, it is a highly self-deceiving thought.

No such thing as stealth.

And I was purely talking plane vs plane. Nothing more. Imagine equally skilled pilots, ideal weather conditions, etc.

I refer you to my post one post before yours. I assure you as an engineer in the aerospace industry that this is not a good premise to work from.

Pure stealth? No. All stealth aircraft have some RCS.

But, considering that the F-15Cs that got their asses handed to them recently didn't even detect the Raptors, and the C has one of the best radar systems in the world, forgive me for if I don't believe that the Russians would do any better (or even come close).

But I read it on the web, it HAS to be true!

In a pure ACM, it would be a good fight. But that's not real world.

Agreed.

I would seriously pay good money to see competitive training exercises between Americans and russkies. F-22 vs Su-35.

I was watching a discovery channel special on these planes a little while ago. They said that the radar on the planes is so advance that they can pick up enemy aircraft, launch their missles and bug out of the area before the enemy ever realizes there might be someone there.

35 would be shot down prior to sight range. The SU avionics and in-flight radar systems would only detect the IR missiles prior to splash.

The days of the close-in dogfight are over. A2A combat isn't a fair fight - it's standoff weaponry nailing targets 25-150miles down range.

The SU-35 has superior thrust-vectoring; the rooskies excel in that technology. Problem is with their radar and guidance systems. They are way behind in that regard. Due to that fact, they'd be splashed w/o even knowing where the shots came from.

Hell, that holds true for facing Tomcats & the Phoenix AAM... Phoenix is the size of a Volkswagon van; launches at targets at 100+ miles.

I wouldn't pay much to see a slaughter.

Unless the Broncos were involved.

Thankfully, however, they learned the lesson from the Phantom not having a gun in the early days of Vietnam, since dogfights were "a thing of the past."

The Raptor has a good, ole Vulcan cannon, just in case.

Yep ;)

ALWAYS better to be safe than sorry.

If all things were equal, without radar and missiles, just straight-up gunning by line of sight, the SU-35 would be one tough bird to take down. The Russian thrust-vectoring is superior in every way. Their vectoring is a full 360degree vector, whereas the F22 vectors on the Y axis only; and to a lesser angle.

Only $125 million??????

Gimme two of 'em!!!!!!!

Dinny

Dude, WTF is with that avatar? :shake:

That's a picture of a Russian pilot without a g suit doing a Cobra in a SU-37.

ROFL

Ah, makes sense. I thought it was a rather stressed look’n young man. ;)

I'm not a West Point graduate but unless we're about to take on China in old school fronts combat seems like an expensive toy at this stage in the game.

I'll probably lay eyes on a couple on my way home from work here at Langley AFB...home of the first active Raptor squadrons. Ironically, my last assignment was Tydall AFB, where the first training squadron was stood up for the Raptor. The Raptor is following me...

It's a force multiplier. In other words, one Raptor can do what, say, ten F-15s can do. Dollar for dollar, it's cheaper.

That's the theory, anyway.

Did you forget about the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Jet in production now!?!

JSF is supposed to replace the F-16, F14, A10, and AV-8B is even more worrisome as it is replacing planes that number in the mulitple 1000s with I believe around 600 aircraft.

I just read a report saying they were going to help replace the F-15's!!

I know nothing, never listen(read) me!!


Have a wonderfull weekend all, time for me to go and have some fun!!

ROFL

I know but:

http://www.jsf.mil/program/

Yeah, I know, but it's still amusing in a really dark way.

Yes, I have no idea how it would ever perform that mission.

The A-10 is scheduled to stay in service with the USAF until 2028, when it may be replaced by the Joint Strike Fighter. In 2005 the entire A-10 fleet will be upgraded to the "C" model that will include improved FCS, ECM, and the ability to carry smart bombs. However, the A-10 may stay in service indefinitely due to both its low cost and its unique capabilities which the Joint Strike Fighter simply cannot incorporate such as its cannon, ruggedness, and slow flying capabilities.

How ironic will it be if the Warthog is still flying long after the F-16s are long gone?

The fleet isn't getting the upgrade yet, but with the mods we installed prior to Iraqi Freedom we can carry LGB's now.

Cool. Can it self-lase targets?

Yep, but the prefered method is to 'buddy lase'.

I was involved with YF23 when at MDC in 80s. bad a$$ plane

Here's a 2002 Popular Mechanics article that explains how in the heck the Joint Strike Fighter will be able to handle so many different missions:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/scie...tml?page=1&c=y