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Lockheed Martin's F-22 Raptor  (Source: AirVenture Oshkosh)
The F-22 Raptor is now certified to strike anywhere in the world

News surrounding America's fifth generation fighter programs has come in at a furious pace in the past few weeks. The latest bit of news coming out of the Defense Department should delight many aviation enthusiasts around the world.

The United States Air Force (USAF) officially deemed that the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor is suitable for Full Operational Capability (FOC) status. FOC means that the F-22 Raptor’s weapons systems and flight performance fully meet the Air Force's requirement and that the aircraft can be deployed anywhere around the world.

The F-22 Raptor has fully trained pilots and support crew to ensure its successful operations at home or abroad in wartime conditions. The Air Force declined to mention if the F-22 Raptor would be deployed to Iraq (like the high-profile V-22 Osprey) or Afghanistan.

"After years of collaborative effort, a key milestone for the F-22 has been reached," said General John Corley. "The Raptor's success at Langley with the integration of active duty and Guard airmen is the showcase example of ACC's shared vision with Air Force leadership for the Total Force Integration of tomorrow."

"This announcement means the F-22 is ready for world-wide operations, should it be called upon," added Larry Lawson, Lockheed Martin's Aeronautics executive vice president and F-22 general manager. "It's a great day for our nation and for the men and women who fly and maintain this incredible aircraft. They deserve the best our country can provide, and the F-22 will stand in the gap providing air dominance and air cover for those who defend us on the ground for the next four decades."

F-22 Raptors are currently deployed at Edwards AFB, Nellis AFB, Tyndall AFB, Langley AFB and Elmendorf AFB. Raptors will also soon find a home at Holloman AFB and Hickman AFB.

The news of the F-22 Raptor's FOC status comes just weeks after the Pentagon reportedly expressed interest in purchasing additional airframes. Concerns over structural fatigue in the 30-year-old F-15 lead to the grounding of the all 442 USAF F-15A, B, C and D air-superiority fighters.

The F-22 Raptor's sister ship, the F-35 Lightning II, recently took to the air again after a seven-month grounding. The F-35 Lightning II uses technology cribbed from the F-22 program and will supplant the F-16 Fighting Falcon, AV8B Harrier, F/A-18 Hornet and A-10 Warthog.

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Wait!!!!!
By Comdrpopnfresh on 12/14/2007 1:27:51 PM , Rating: 2
Why in the hell are they taking the A-10 out of commission? Can the F-35II take the beating, and have the slow speeds the A-10 presents?




RE: Wait!!!!!
By therealnickdanger on 12/14/2007 1:32:12 PM , Rating: 2
Clearly the Lightning can outperform the capabilities of the Hog, otherwise they wouldn't replace it. Who knows? Perhaps the Hog will make a another comeback in Gulf War III.


RE: Wait!!!!!
By MrBungle123 on 12/14/07, Rating: 0
RE: Wait!!!!!
By Ringold on 12/14/2007 8:36:26 PM , Rating: 1
He does have a brother, Jeb, but he's not electable. Jeb does, however, have a son; George P. Bush.

Dual American dynasties:

George H.W. Bush
Bill Clinton
George W. Bush
Hillary Clinton?
George P. Bush?
Chelsea Clinton?
Barbara or Jenna Bush?

I could be wrong about Jeb, perhaps he is electable, if he ditches his wife.


RE: Wait!!!!!
By Lord 666 on 12/15/2007 8:51:53 AM , Rating: 2
Actually, Jeb will be quite electable in a few years. Other than the public stigma of being GWB's brother, Jeb is an accomplished politician and sits on many committees including the one that determined that US citizens would not support drastic change unless there was a new Pearl Harbor.

His wife is actually an asset to the growing population of Spanish speaking citizens and undocumented "visitors."

There was talk of making him the commissioner of the NFL, this would be an attempt to mainstream him.


RE: Wait!!!!!
By Ringold on 12/15/2007 4:21:03 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
His wife is actually an asset to the growing population of Spanish speaking citizens and undocumented "visitors."


I like him, I voted for him, could possibly do so again, but don't forget she tried to smuggle some things past customs without paying duties and his daughter Noelle is, or was recently, a prescription drug addict. Not one to take on the campaign trail.

Maybe the wife would be an asset regardless to the hispanic community, it's not like they all even visited customs on their way in to the country, but he'd definitely have human family flaws to bare before the country.

Oh, and that he ignored the will of the people of Florida who voted for a constitutional amendment to limit class sizes didn't set well with me either.

Maybe you're right, though. I guess we can't expect every family to be squeeky clean, Romney style.


RE: Wait!!!!!
By Captain Orgazmo on 12/14/2007 2:41:14 PM , Rating: 5
The F-35 is a flying computer with a crapload of delicate moving parts; it will not take well to damage. Which means high speed, high altitude JDAM drops and the like. Which also means when the marine calls in to the pilot to hit the second ridge on the hill to the east or whatever, the pilot will not have a clue what he's talking about. That is why the A-10 was designed exclusively for close air support, with the real battlefield experiences of WWII and Korea in mind, capable of flying low and slow, and surviving battle damage, so the pilot can see things more from the perspective of the guy on the ground (and then hosing the baddies with the most kickass gun ever invented).

I bet the marines are hoping they can get the A-10 scraps-from-the-table like from the air force (just like they get all their kit second-hand from either the army, navy, or air force). Only problem is it isn't really portable and can't be deployed from assault ships, but maybe they can look past that.


RE: Wait!!!!!
By Chillin1248 (blog) on 12/14/2007 4:28:23 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
I bet the marines are hoping they can get the A-10 scraps-from-the-table like from the air force (just like they get all their kit second-hand from either the army, navy, or air force).


And we in the IDF get it after the marines are done abusing the gear :)

But in all seriousness, it is very hard to say about the structural integrity of the airframe before it sees combat action.

For example, on 1 May 1983, during an Israeli Air Force training dogfight, an F-15D collided with an A-4 Skyhawk. Unknown to pilot Zivi Nadavi, and his copilot, the right wing of the Eagle was torn off roughly two feet (60 cm) from the fuselage. The pilot managed to regain control of the aircraft and prevented it from stalling, ultimately landing the crippled aircraft successfully. The F-15 was able to stay in the air because of the lift generated by the large horizontal surface area of the fuselage, the large and effective elevators and the surviving wing. Landing at twice the normal speed to maintain the necessary lift, although the tailhook was torn off completely during the landing, Zivi managed to bring his F-15 to a complete stop approximately 20 feet (6 m) from the end of the runway. He was later quoted that "(I) probably would have ejected if I knew what had happened."

The IAF (Israeli Air Force) contacted McDonnell Douglas and asked for information about possibility to land an F-15 with one wing. MD replied that this is aerodynamically impossible, as confirmed by computer simulations... Then they received the photo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LveSc8Lp0ZE
http://www.uss-bennington.org/phz-nowing-f15.html

So it is best to wait and see before passing any judgements.

-------
Chillin


RE: Wait!!!!!
By Captain Orgazmo on 12/14/2007 5:48:57 PM , Rating: 2
I have heard the story before but never saw the pictures... pretty amazing. Similar incident occurred when an F-117 stealth lost its tail structure during flight. In that case however, the pilot didn't know anything at all was wrong because the plane's computer automatically compensated using the main wing control surfaces.

Still though, the F-35 simply isn't designed to fly low and slow and take hits, while the A-10 specifically is.


RE: Wait!!!!!
By Chillin1248 (blog) on 12/15/2007 3:12:16 AM , Rating: 2
I agree with your assesment of the A10 vs. F35.

I have some other thoughts though, maybe they will restart the Army Air Corp again with transfered A10s; though I highly doubt the Air Force would allow such a thing to exist.

Here in Israel for example, a pilot signs on many years of his life (a career choice) to fly the plane. During his training he spends some time with a regular infantry unit on the ground so that he will know what a ground pounder viewpoint and needs for close air support.

As such it is very reassuring to have F-15Is, F-16Is and even helicopters over your head even though they were not designed for CAS.

-------
Chillin


RE: Wait!!!!!
By Brovane on 12/15/2007 12:30:38 AM , Rating: 3
quote:
hich means high speed, high altitude JDAM drops and the like. Which also means when the marine calls in to the pilot to hit the second ridge on the hill to the east or whatever, the pilot will not have a clue what he's talking about.


Actually what the Air Force envisions is that Marine will provide a GPS coordinate for the second ridge and a high flying F-35 our any other aircraft will drop a GPS guided munition that will then hit that second ridge without having to have a pilot fly low and expose a aircraft and air frame to hostile gun fire. That is what the US military envisions the future of warfare by increasing the accuracy of your weapons and your targeting information you can improve stand off distance and minimize risk. Only time will tell if this is a smart strategy.


RE: Wait!!!!!
By Captain Orgazmo on 12/15/2007 3:28:19 AM , Rating: 2
Great for taking on insurgencies, but what about a country with the capability of knocking out the GPS satellites (i.e. China, Russia) :P


RE: Wait!!!!!
By demiller9 on 12/15/2007 10:51:59 AM , Rating: 2
China has capability to knock out low earth orbit satellites (500 mi) but GPS orbit at 11000 mi. I don't think they can touch them.


RE: Wait!!!!!
By Brovane on 12/15/2007 11:54:43 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Great for taking on insurgencies, but what about a country with the capability of knocking out the GPS satellites (i.e. China, Russia) :P


They would have to be able to reach out and destroy multiple GPS satellites orbiting at around 10,000-12,000 miles. China and Russia our any other country for that matter do not have the current capability of reaching out and destroying satellites at this altitude. They could have in the future but they currently do not.


RE: Wait!!!!!
By kring on 12/15/07, Rating: 0
RE: Wait!!!!!
By Captain Orgazmo on 12/15/2007 2:26:58 PM , Rating: 2
Maybe my point of view comes from military experience! Don't make unfounded assumptions. My country (Canada) is fighting in Afghanistan, and I can tell you, the A-10 is our friend (well, except for the time one of the A-10 pilots mistook our troops for robe wearing terrorists and killed a few). And as far as not knowing 1% about the F-35; well beyond obviously secret specifications like radar cross section, weapon payload configurations, and things like flight envelope (which hasn't even been fully tested yet), the rest is pretty much public knowledge: it has two wings, a pointy end, and jeez, it isn't a flying tank!

My obvious bias comes from experience that the more complicated something is, the less reliable it is, and the more easily damaged it is. Also, and this is an infantryman's perspective, flyboys zipping around at 10,000+ feet and 500+ knots can't possibly relate to the guy on the ground when he's in the middle of an ambush and is calling in air support to save his own ass.

As far as this new age of war, what is new about humping around Afghanistan over hills with heavy packs, and shooting the enemy when you see him? I'm sure against a real, modern, military, the F-35 would shine, but right now, that isn't the case, and it isn't the trend.


RE: Wait!!!!!
By 91TTZ on 12/14/2007 10:05:48 PM , Rating: 2
I wouldn't say "Clearly". It's more like a pipe-dream.

Several years ago they were saying the exact same thing about the F-16. They said it could do everything the A-10 can only better.

However, when they looked at the results of missions the F-16 flew, it turned out that it had several fatal flaws as far as that duty goes: It has only one engine so if it gets hit, the aircraft is done. Also the engine is mounted in the center so any missile strike will hit the aircraft in a vital area right below the rudder. It's also too fast and can't loiter in the area as long as the A-10 can.

On the other hand, the A-10 has two engines in pods that are spaced out from the fuselage. If one gets hit, it destroys the pod it's on but the other engine still functions. It has two rudders so if one gets hit, the other still works. It flies slower and has a long loiter time so it can hang in the area and support the troops on the ground.


RE: Wait!!!!!
By CheesePoofs on 12/14/2007 1:34:30 PM , Rating: 2
No, but it's cheaper, and it will simplify maintenance (less types of planes). And in reality, missiles can do most of what the A-10 can do.


RE: Wait!!!!!
By Chernobyl68 on 12/14/2007 1:37:25 PM , Rating: 4
not for the same price.