F-22 Raptor
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F-22 Raptor |
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F-22
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US Air Force next-generation tactical fighter, formerly known as Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) programme.
PROGRAMME:
US Air Force ATF requirement for 750 (now 442) McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle replacements incorporating low observables technology and supercruise (supersonic cruise without afterburning); parallel assessment of two new power plants; request for information issued 1981; concept definition studies awarded September 1983 to Boeing, General Dynamics, Grumman, McDonnell Douglas, Northrop and Rockwell; requests for proposals issued September 1985; submissions received by 28 July 1986; USAF selection announced 31 October 1986 of demonstration/validation phase contractors: Lockheed YF-22 and Northrop YF-23 (see 1991-92 Jane's); each produced two prototypes and ground-based avionics testbed; first flights of all four prototypes 1990. Competing engine demonstration/validation programmes launched September 1983; ground testing began 1986-87; flight-capable Pratt & Whitney YF119s and General Electric YF120s ordered early 1988; all four aircraft/engine combinations flown.
Lockheed teamed with General Dynamics (Fort Worth) and Boeing Military Airplanes to produce two YF-22 prototypes, civil registrations N22YF (with GE YF120) and N22YX (P&W YF119); USAF serial numbers 87-0700 and 87-0701 assigned, but only 87-0701 applied during second phase of testing, from late 1991. N22YF rolled out at Palmdale 29 August 1990; first flight/ferry to Edwards AFB 29 September 1990; first air refuelling (11th sortie) 26 October 1990; thrust vectoring in flight 15 November 1990; anti-spin parachute for high angle of attack tests on 34th to 43rd sorties; flight testing temporarily suspended 28 December 1990; 43 sorties/52 hours 48 minutes. N22YX first flight Palmdale-Edwards 30 October 1990; AIM-9M Sidewinder (28 November 1990) and AIM-120A AMRAAM (20 December 1990) launch demonstrations; achieved Mach 1.8 on 26 December 1990; temporarily grounded after 31 sorties/38 hours 48 minutes, 28 December 1990. Flight test demonstrations included 100o/s roll rate at 120 knots (222 km/h; 138 mph) and supercruise flight in excess of Mach 1.58 without afterburner.
Second (F119-powered) YF-22 taken by road to Palmdale mid-1991; fitted with strain gauges; began further 100 hour test programme 30 October 1991; gathered data on aerodynamic loads, flight control aerodynamic effects, vibration/acoustic fatigue and maximum coefficient of lift; flown by 6511th Test Squadron (F-22 Combined Test Force) of 6510th Test Wing at Edwards AFB; non-fatal crash landing at Edwards 25 April 1992, following pilot-induced oscillations; total 100 hours 24 minutes in 70 flights since October 1990; non-flyable, but repaired for use as antenna testbed at Rome Air Development Center, Griffiss AFB, New York.
Fabrication of first component for first EMD aircraft (c/n 4001) began 8 December 1993 at Boeing's facility in Kent, Washington; assembly of forward fuselage launched at Marietta on 2 November 1995 with start of work on nose landing gear well; assembly work also begun at Fort Worth Summer 1995 with mating of three assemblies that comprise the mid-fuselage of first EMD aircraft taking place in Spring 1996, followed by road transfer of entire section to Marietta in August 1996 for start of final assembly process; first flight planned May 1997; low-rate production decision in August 1998; first production delivery August 2000; high-rate production decision due March 2002.
DESIGN FEATURES:
Low observables configuration and construction; stealth/agility trade-off decided by design team; target thrust/weight ratio 1.4 (achieved ratio 1.2 at T-O weight); greatly improved reliability and maintainability for high sortie-generation rates, including under 20 minute combat turnround time; enhanced survivability through `first-look, first-shot, first-kill' capability; short T-O and landing distances; supersonic cruise and manoeuvring (supercruise) in region of Mach 1.5 without afterburning; internal weapons storage and generous internal fuel; conformal sensors.
Highly integrated avionics for single pilot operation and rapid reaction. Radar, RWR and comms/ident managed by single system presenting relevant data only, and with emissions controlled (passive to fully active) in stages, according to tactical situation. Common integrated processor (CIP) handles all avionics functions, including self-protection and radio, and automatically reconfigures to compensate for faults and failures. F-22 has two CIPs, with space for third, linked by 400 Mbits/s fibre optic network (see Avionics).
Wing and horizontal tail leading-edge sweep 42o (both 48o on YF-22); trailing-edge 17o forward, increased to 42o outboard of ailerons (straight trailing-edge on YF-22); all-moving five-edged horizontal tail (four-edged elements on YF-22). Vertical tail surfaces (22 per cent larger on YF-22) canted outwards at 28o; leading- and trailing-edge sweep 22.9o; biconvex aerofoil. F-22's wing and stabilator areas same as YF-22, despite reprofiling. F-22 wing taper ratio 0.169; leading-edge anhedral 3.25o; root twist 0.5o; tip twist -3.1o; thickness/chord ratio 5.92 at root, 4.29 at tip; custom-designed aerofoil. Horizontal tails have no dihedral or twist.
Sidewinder AAMs stored internally in sides of intake ducts, with AMRAAMs, Sidewinders or GBU-32 JDAM 1000 precision-guided munitions in ventral weapons bay. Diamond-shaped cheek air intakes with highly contoured air ducts; intakes approximately 0.46 m (1 ft 6 in) farther forward on YF-22; single-axis thrust vectoring included on PW119, but most specified performance achievable without.
Additional production F-22 changes from YF-22 include decreased wingroot thickness, modified camber and twist (increasing anhedral); all 48o plan angles changed to 42o; blunter nose; wheelbase reduced by approximately 0.46 m (1 ft 6 in); wheel track reduced by same; revised undercarriage legs and doors; constant chord ailerons; reprofiled cockpit canopy; dorsal airbrake deleted.
LANDING GEAR:
Menasco retractable tricycle type, stressed for no-flare landings of up to 3.05 m (10 ft)/s. Nosewheel tyre 23.5 x 7.5-10; mainwheel tyres 37 x 11.5-18.
POWER PLANT:
Two 155 kN (35,000 lb st) class Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 advanced technology reheated engines reportedly developed from F100 turbofan. Two-dimensional convergent/divergent exhaust nozzles with thrust vectoring for enhanced performance and manoeuvrability.
ACCOMMODATION:
Pilot only, on zero/zero modified ACES II ejection seat and wearing tactical life support system with improved g-suits, pressure breathing and arm restraint. Pilot's view over nose is -15o.
SYSTEMS:
Include Normalair-Garrett OBOGS, AlliedSignal APU and Smiths 270 V DC electrical distribution system.
AVIONICS:
Final integration, as well as integration of entire suite with non-avionics systems, undertaken at F-22 Avionics Integration Laboratory, Seattle, Washington; airborne integration supported by Boeing 757 flying testbed; high-fidelity Full Mission Simulation (FMS) for integrated system Pilot-Vehicle Interface (PVI) evaluations, avionics development and mission effectiveness assessment.
Comms: TRW communications/navigation/identification system, including Mk 12 IFF.
Radar: Westinghouse/Texas Instruments AN/APG-77 electronically scanned radar (air-to-air and navigation).
Flight: TRW communications/navigation/identification subsystem; Litton inertial reference system.
Instrumentation: Fused situational awareness information is displayed to pilot via four Sanders/Kaiser colour liquid crystal multifunction displays (MFD); MFD bezel buttons provide pilot format control.
Mission: Hughes common integrated processor (CIP); CIP also contains mission software that uses tailorable mission planning data for sensor emitter management and multisensor fusion; mission-specific information delivered to system through Fairchild data transfer equipment that also contains mass storage for default data and air vehicle operational flight programme; stores management system. General purpose processing capacity of CIP is rated at more than 700 million instructions per second (Mips) with growth to 2,000 Mips; signal processing capacity greater than 20 billion operations per second (Bops) with expansion capability to 50 Bops; CIP contains more than 300 Mbytes of memory with growth potential to 650 Mbytes. Intra-flight data link automatically shares tactical information between two or more F-22s. Airframe contains provisions for IRST and side-mounted phased-array radar.
Self-defence: Sanders/General Electric AN/ALR-94 electronic warfare (RF warning and countermeasures) subsystem.
ARMAMENT:
Internal long-barrel M61A2 20 mm cannon with hinged muzzle cover and 480-round magazine capacity (production F-22). Three internal bays (see Design Features) for AIM-9 Sidewinder (one in each side bay) and/or four AIM-120A or six AIM-120C AMRAAM AAMs and/or GBU-32 JDAM 1000 PGMs on hydraulic weapon racks in main weapons bay. Four underwing stores stations at 317 mm (125 in) and 442 mm (174 in) from centreline of fuselage capable of carrying 2,268 kg (5,000 lb) each.
DIMENSIONS>EXTERNAL:
Wing span:
YF-22: 13.11 m (43 ft 0 in)
F-22: 13.56 m (44 ft 6 in)
Length overall:
YF-22: 19.56 m (64 ft 2 in)
F-22: 18.92 m (62 ft 1 in)
Height overall:
YF-22: 5.41 m (17 ft 9 in)
F-22: 5.05 m (16 ft 7 in)
AREAS:
Wings, gross:
YF-22 and F-22: 78.0 m2 (840.0 sq ft
WEIGHTS AND LOADINGS (estimated):
Weight empty:
YF-22: over 13,608 kg (30,000 lb)
F-22, target: 14,365 kg (31,670 lb)
Max T-O weight: F-22: almost 27,216 kg (60,000 lb)
PERFORMANCE:
(YF-22, demonstrated):
Max level speed: supercruise Mach 1.58
with afterburning: Mach 1.7 at 9,150 m (30,000 ft)
Ceiling: 15,240 m (50,000 ft)
g limit: +7.9
PERFORMANCE:
(F-22A, design target, estimated):
Max level speed at S/L: 800 kts (1,482 km/h; 921 mph)
g limitL: +9
LENGTH (m) 19.56
HEIGHT (m) 5.41
WING SPAN (m) 13.11
MAX T-O WEIGHT (kg) 27216
MAX LEVEL SPEED (knots) 1044
| Type | Air Dominance Fighter |
| Crew | One pilot |
| Length | 18.92 m (62 ft 1 in) |
| Height | 5.00 m (16 ft 5 in) |
| Wingspan | 13.56 m (44 ft 6 in) |
| Wing Area | 78.04 m2 ( 840.00 sq ft ) |
| Frontal Radar Cross-section | 27 sq cm |
| Propulsion | Two Pratt & Whitney F119-P-100 |
| Engine Thrust | 155.69 kN ( 35,000 lb st ) |
| Empty Weight | more than 30,000 lb (13608 kg) |
| Max. Take-off Weight | 58,000 lb (26308 kg) |
| Normal Take-off Weight | ? |
| Max. Ordnance Load | ? |
| Max. Internal Fuel | ? |
| Max. Speed, clean | Mach 1.7 Mach 1.58 in supercruise ( no afterburner used ) |
| Range | ? |
| Typical Weapon Load | ? |
| Weapons Carried: | Up to 6 AIM-120C AMRAAM Long-range air-to-air missiles. Two AIM-9 Sidewinders / when availible Four AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles |
Data from FAS, Jane's All the World's Aircraft, and Aerospace/Defense Companies.
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F-22 Raptor |
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