Blog 41: 06/30/23: The Story of the 21st Century’s Lockheed-Martin F-22 Raptor, the USAF’s Ultimate Bird of Prey?
Lockheed-Martin F-22A Raptor refueling from a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker over Syria.
Credit: US Air Force Archives
Welcome back to Brooke In The Air, this week due to its uptick in common popularity, we're analyzing the story and development behind the Lockheed-Martin F-22A Raptor!
First, the basics.
The Lockheed-Martin F-22 Raptor is a 5th generation American single-seat, twin-engine, all-weather tactical stealth fighter aircraft developed for the United States Air Force (commonly abbreviated as USAF). As a product of the USAF's Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program the aircraft was designed as an air superiority fighter, but also incorporates ground attack, electronic warfare, and signals intelligence (SIGINT) capabilities.
BACKGROUND
While Lockheed-Martin was the primary contractor and built most of the F-22's airframe and weapons systems as well as conducting the final assembly, Boeing provided the wings, aft fuselage, avionics integration, and training systems. The engines meanwhile were built by noted military engine contractor, Pratt and Whitney.
Aside from advances in air vehicle and propulsion technology, the F-22's avionics and software were unprecedented in terms of complexity and scale for the time, with the fusion of multiple sensors systems and software integration of 1.7 million lines of code. To enable early looks and troubleshooting for mission software development, the software was flight-tested on a Boeing 757 airliner modified with F-22 mission systems to serve as the Flying Test Bed avionics laboratory.
Although the Raptor had a protracted development and initial operational difficulties, the F-22 has become a critical component of the USAF's tactical airpower. The fighter's combination of stealth, aerodynamic performance, and mission systems enabled a leap in air combat capabilities and set the benchmark for its generation. The F-22 is expected to serve into the 2030s and eventually have its role succeeded by the USAF's Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) 6th generation manned fighter component.
The aircraft first flew in 1997 and was variously designated F-22 and F/A-22 before it formally entered service in December 2005 as the F-22A. Although the USAF had originally planned to buy a total of 750 ATFs for a full fleet, the program was cut to 187 production aircraft in 2009 due to high costs, a lack of air-to-air missions at the time of production, and the development of the more affordable and versatile F-35. The last F-22 was delivered in 2012 though the Raptor is intended to serve the USAF until 2032 when the NGAD fighter system comes online.
ORIGIN/BIRTH OF AN IDEA
Breakdown of contractor development.
In 1981, at the height of the Cold War, the U.S. Air Force identified a requirement for an Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) to replace the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon, two aircraft very much in service still today. Code-named "Senior Sky", this air-superiority fighter program was influenced by emerging worldwide threats, including new developments in Soviet air defense systems and the proliferation of the Sukhoi Su-27 "Flanker" and Mikoyan MiG-29 "Fulcrum" fighter aircraft, still commonly seen in service by Ukraine and other former Soviet republics.
The ATF (F-22) would make an ambitious leap in performance by taking advantage of the new technologies in fighter design on the horizon, including composite materials, lightweight alloys, advanced flight control systems and avionics, more powerful propulsion systems for supersonic cruise (or super-cruise) over Mach 1.5, and most importantly for the time, advanced stealth technology.
The USAF initiated an ATF request for information (RFI) to the aerospace industry as a whole in May of 1981, as well as a subsequent concept development team (CDT) to manage concept and technology development. In 1983, the CDT became the ATF System Program Office (SPO) and managed the program at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Following a period of concept refinement and system requirements definition, the demonstration and validation (Dem/Val) request for proposals (RFP) was issued in September 1985, with requirements placing a strong emphasis on stealth and super-cruise. The RFP would see some alterations after its first release; stealth requirements were drastically increased in December of 1985, and the requirement for flying technology demonstrator prototypes was added in May 1986.
Additionally, the U.S. Navy, under the Navalized Advanced Tactical Fighter (NATF) program, eventually announced that it would use an ATF derivative to replace its F-14 Tomcat. This concept was eventually abandoned by the Navy as they would find their solution elsewhere, and the venerable Grumman F-14 Tomcat would go on go serve until 2006 when it was replaced in the interim by the upgraded F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, and eventually the Hornet was supplanted entirely by the also-Lockheed-Martin built F-35 Lightning II.
Owing to the immense investments required to develop the technology needed to achieve performance requirements, teaming between companies that often instead competed against each other, was actually encouraged by the US Air Force.
Northrop-Grumman YF-23 Gray Ghost during a demonstration flight over Palmdale, California
Of the record-breaking seven bidding companies, 99% of the major firms of the US defense contractor industry, Lockheed and Northrop were selected by the USAF on the 31st of October 1986, ironically, Halloween.
Lockheed, through its secretive Skunk Works division, then teamed with Boeing and General Dynamics while Northrop teamed with McDonnell Douglas, and the two contractor teams undertook a 50-month Dem/Val (Demonstration/validation/Evaluation) phase, culminating in the flight test of two technology demonstrator prototypes, the YF-22 and the YF-23 - nicknamed the Gray Ghost, see left and down - respectively. Concurrently, Pratt & Whitney and General Electric were contracted to develop the propulsion systems for the ATF engine competition.
DEVELOPMENT
Dem/Val was focused on system engineering, technology development plans, and risk reduction over point aircraft designs; in fact, after the down-select, the Lockheed team completely redesigned the airframe configuration in the summer of 1987 due to weight analysis during detailed design, with notable changes including the wing planform from swept trapezoidal to diamond-like delta and a reduction in forebody planform area. Contractors made extensive use of analytical and empirical methods, including computational fluid dynamics, wind-tunnel testing, and radar cross-section (RCS) calculations and pole testing; the Lockheed team would conduct nearly 18,000 hours of wind-tunnel testing for Dem/Val.
Avionics development was marked by extensive testing and prototyping and supported by ground and flying laboratories. During Dem/Val, the SPO used the results of performance and cost trade studies conducted by contractor teams to adjust ATF requirements and delete ones that were significant weight and cost drivers while having marginal value. The short takeoff and landing (STOL) requirement was relaxed to delete thrust-reversers, saving substantial weight, plus the USAF didn't believe it needed STOL abilities installed for a plane that would be using their comparatively massive runways.
As avionics was a major cost driver, side-looking radars were deleted, and the dedicated infra-red search and track (IRST) system was downgraded from multi-color to single color and then deleted as well. Space and cooling provisions were retained to allow for the later addition of these components. The ejection seat requirement was downgraded from a fresh design to the existing McDonnell Douglas ACES II ejection seat concept -
Collins Aerospace ACES II Ejection System in action, c. 2010 aboard a General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon of the USAF Thunderbirds demonstration team.
ACES II is an ejection seat system manufactured by the Collins Aerospace division of Raytheon Technologies (RTX) (see right). ACES is an acronym for Advanced Concept Ejection Seat. It is used in Fairchild Republic (now Boeing) A-10 Thunderbolt II, McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F-15 Eagle, General Dynamics (now also Boeing) F-16 Fighting Falcon, Lockheed-Martin F-22 Raptor, Lockheed-Martin F-117 Nighthawk, Boeing-Rockwell B-1 Lancer, WB-57, Northrop-Grumman B-2 Spirit, and Mitsubishi F-2 aircraft. The seat’s built-in computer senses the conditions of the ejection (airspeed and altitude) and selects the appropriate drogue and main parachute deployments to minimize the forces on the occupant.
The seat is controlled by a fully redundant digital electronic sequencer which makes the decisions and initiates the appropriate seat components to allow the seat to fly through the air and safely descend the entire aircrew, whether it be one pilot, or the pilot plus RIO/backseater, etc, to the ground. The sequencer includes a crash data recorder that contains ejection information that can be later analyzed during crash investigations to understand the dynamics of the ejection as well as loads on the aircrew during the event. The seat propulsion system is specially designed with technology to compensate for aircrew weight so that the 103 lb. small female aircrew gets a similar acceleration to the 245 lb. male pilot. The seat has been updated over the years through pre-planned product improvement programs to include digital sequencing, additional redundancy, enhance stability, limb restraints, structural upgrading, and passive head/neck restraints.
But now, back to the Raptor. -
Despite efforts by the contractor teams to rein in weight, the takeoff gross weight estimate, affecting MTOW (Maximum Take Off Weight), was increased from 23,000 to 27,000 kg, resulting in engine thrust requirement increasing from 30,000 to 35,000 lbf (pounds of thrust) class.
Each team built two prototype air vehicles for Dem/Val, one for each of the two engine options. The YF-22 had its maiden flight on 29 September 1990 and in flight tests successfully demonstrated super-cruise as well as the firing of air-to-air missiles from internal weapons bays. After the Dem/Val flight test of the prototypes, on 23 April 1991, Secretary of the USAF Donald Rice announced the Lockheed team and Pratt & Whitney as the winners of the ATF and engine competitions for full-scale development. The YF-23 design was considered stealthier and faster, while the YF-22, with its thrust vectoring nozzles, was more maneuverable as well as less expensive and risky. The press also speculated that the Lockheed team's design was also more adaptable to the Navy's NATF, but by fiscal year (FY) 1992, the Navy had abandoned NATF, deciding to stick with their F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and, at the time, F-14D Tomcat.
Top-down view of the Northrop-Grumman YFF-23 Gray Ghost over California
The YF-23 Gray Ghost demonstration prototype can currently be seen on display at the National Museum of the US Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.
DEVELOPMENT APPROVED
As the program moved to full-scale development, or Engineering & Manufacturing Development (EMD), the production F-22 design evolved to have notable differences from the immature YF-22 demonstrator, despite having a similar configuration. The wing's leading edge sweep angle was decreased from 48° to 42°, while the vertical stabilizers were shifted rearward and decreased in area by 20%. The radome shape was changed for better radar performance and the wingtips were clipped for antennas. To improve pilot visibility and aerodynamics, the canopy was moved forward 18 cm and the engine inlets moved rearward 36 cm. The shapes of the fuselage, wing, and stabilator trailing edges were refined to improve aerodynamics, strength, and stealth characteristics. The production airframe was designed with a military service life of 8,000 hours. Increasing weight during EMD caused slight reductions in projected range and maneuver performance.
DOWNSCALE - ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING DEVELOPMENT (EMD)
The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 reduced the Department of Defense's (DoD) urgency for new weapon systems and the following years would see successive reductions in DoD spending; this resulted in the F-22's EMD (engineering/manufacturing/development) being rescheduled and lengthened multiple times.
The roughly equal division of work amongst the Lockheed team largely carried through from Dem/Val to EMD, although Lockheed as ghrvprime contractor acquired General Dynamics' fighter portfolio at Fort Worth, Texas in 1993 and thus had the majority of the airframe manufacturing; Lockheed would merge with Martin Marietta in 1995 to form Lockheed-Martin which further slowed development of the YF-22 though the acquisition of Martin Marietta greatly benefitted the company.
While Lockheed primarily performed Dem/Val work at its Skunk Works sites in Burbank and Palmdale, both major cities in southern California, it would shift its program office and EMD work from Burbank to Marietta, Georgia, where it performed final assembly; their key program partner, Boeing provided additional airframe components as well as avionics integration and training systems in Seattle, Washington.
The first F-22, an EMD testbed aircraft with tail number 4001, was unveiled at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia on 9 April 1997, and first flew later that year on the 7th of September.
The numerous new technologies needed for the F-22's ambitious performance requirements resulted in substantial cost overruns and delays; issues with meeting scheduled milestones were exacerbated by post-Cold War funding cuts in the 1990s by the Clinton Administration. Furthermore, many capabilities were deferred to post-service upgrades, reducing the initial cost but increasing total program and maintenance costs. Following extensive tests and evaluations, EMD transitioned to full-rate production in March 2005 while Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) activity continued for upgrades and modifications. Due to the aircraft's sophisticated capabilities, contractors have been targeted by cyberattacks and technology theft. As a result, the F-22 in considered to be both past and ahead of it's time.
PROCUREMENT AND DECISIONS
The USAF originally envisioned ordering 750 ATFs (F-22As) at a total program cost of $44.3 billion and procurement cost of $26.2 billion in FY 1985 dollars, with production beginning in 1994 and service entry in the late 1990s. The 1990 Major Aircraft Review led by Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney, later Vice-President under George W. Bush from 2000 to 2008, reduced this to 648 aircraft beginning in 1996 and continuing into the early 2000s. After the end of the Cold War, this was further curtailed to 442 fighters in the 1993 so-called “Bottom-Up” Congressional Review. All the while the USAF eventually set its requirement to just 381 individual units to adequately support its Air Expeditionary Force structure (AEFS).
However, funding instability had reduced the total even further to 339 by 1997 and production was nearly halted by Congress in fiscal year (FY) 1999. Although production funds were eventually restored by an Act of Congress, the planned number continued to decline due to technology and production delays, and cost overruns during EMD testing with the total quantity of fighters slipping to just a mere 277 by the Spring of 2003.
In 2004, with its focus on asymmetric counterinsurgency warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Department of Defense under Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld further cut the planned F-22 procurement to 183 production aircraft, despite the USAF's requirement for 381. A multi-year procurement contract was awarded in 2006 to bring the number to 183, which would be distributed to seven combat squadrons; total program cost was projected to be $62 billion. In 2008, Congress passed a defense spending bill that raised the total orders for production aircraft to 187, for a total increase of five.
F-22 production would, eventually, support over 1,000 subcontractors and suppliers from 46 states and up to 95,000 jobs, and spanned 15 years at a peak rate of roughly two airplanes per month; after EMD aircraft contracts, the first production lot was awarded in September 2000, a calendar year before 9/11, and two months before the infamous 2000 Election between Al Gore and George W. Bush.
TOTAL PRODUCTION
In total, 195 F-22s were built. The first two were EMD aircraft in the Block 1.0 configuration for initial flight testing and envelope expansion, while the third was a Block 2.0 aircraft built to represent the internal structure of production airframes and enabled it to test full flight loads. Six more EMD aircraft were built in the Block 10 configuration for development and upgrade testing, with the last two considered essentially production quality jets. Production for operational squadrons consisted of 74 Block 10/20 training aircraft and 112 Block 30/35 combat aircraft for a total of 186 (or 187 when accounting for production representative test vehicles); one of the Block 30 aircraft is dedicated to flight sciences at Edwards Air Force Base, California. Block 20 aircraft from Lot 3 onward were upgraded to Block 30 standards, increasing the Block 30/35 fleet to 149 aircraft while 37 remain in the Block 20 configuration.
EXPORT BAN
The F-22 cannot be exported under US federal law to protect its stealth technology and classified features. Customers for U.S. fighters are acquiring earlier designs such as the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon or the newer F-35 Lightning II, which contains technology from the F-22 but was designed to be cheaper, more flexible, and available for export. In September 2006, Congress upheld the ban on foreign F-22 sales. Despite the ban, the 2010 defense authorization bill included provisions requiring the DoD to report on the costs and feasibility for an F-22 export variant, and another report on the effect of F-22 export sales on the US aerospace industry.
F-22A Raptor, bottom-view with weapons bay open, showcasing the warhead release mechanisms.
It is unlikely at this point, with the rate of aerospace development, that any first-world nation now would want the F-22. Some Australian politicians and defense commentators proposed that Australia should attempt to purchase F-22s instead of the planned F-35s, citing the F-22's known capabilities and F-35's delays and developmental uncertainties. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) soon determined that the F-22 was unable to perform the F-35's strike and close air support (CAS) roles.
Relatedly, the Japanese government also showed interest in the F-22 for its Replacement-Fighter program. The Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) would reportedly require fewer fighters for its mission if it obtained the F-22, thus reducing engineering and staffing costs. In 2009 it was reported that acquiring the F-22 would require increases to the Japanese government's defense budget beyond the historical 1 percent of its GDP. With the end of F-22 production, Japan chose the F-35 in December of 2011. Now, Japan has partnered with the European Union to produce a comparatively homegrown fighter loosely based on a combination of the F-35 Lightning II and the US Air Force's future NGAD.
TERMINATION / CANCELLATION
One-time Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne, and champion of the Lockheed-Martin F-22 Raptor
Throughout the 2000s when the Department of Defense was primarily fighting counterinsurgency wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the USAF's procurement goal of 381 F-22s was questioned over rising costs, initial reliability and availability problems, limited multirole versatility, and a lack of relevant adversaries for air combat missions. Taxpayer dollars were considered to be wasted on the F-22. In 2006, Comptroller General of the United States David Walker found that "the DoD has not demonstrated the need" for more investment in the F-22, and further opposition was expressed by Bush Administration Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and his successor Robert Gates, Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon R. England, and Chairman of U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) Senators John Warner and John McCain, yes THE John McCain, who would run against Barack Obama in 2008. Under Rumsfeld, procurement was severely cut to 183 aircraft. The F-22 lost influential supporters in 2008 after the forced resignations of Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne - Secretary of Defense Robert Gates asked for and received Wynne's resignation on June 5, 2008, in the wake of the 2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident and the mistaken shipment of Minuteman III parts to Taiwan in 2006, - and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General T. Michael Moseley.
A brief primer on the 2007 Nuclear Weapons Incideny - On 29th of August in 2007, six AGM-129 ACM cruise missiles, each loaded with a W80-1 variable yield nuclear warhead, were mistakenly loaded onto a United States Air Force B-52H heavy bomber at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota and transported to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. The nuclear warheads in the missiles were supposed to have been removed before the missiles were taken from their storage bunker. The missiles with the nuclear warheads were not reported missing, and remained mounted to the aircraft at both Minot and Barksdale for 36 hours. During this period, the warheads were not protected by the various mandatory security precautions for nuclear weapons. This constituted s serious breach of security protocol for armaments handling especially for nuclear weapons.
Essentially, In November 2008, Gates stated that the F-22 lacked relevance in asymmetric post-Cold War conflicts, and in April 2009, under the Obama Administration, he called for production to end in FY 2011 after completing 187 F-22s. That, as they say, was that.
After President Barack Obama threatened to veto further production at Gates' urging, the Senate voted in July 2009 in favor of ending production and the House agreed to abide by the 187 cap. Gates highlighted the F-35's role in the decision, and in 2011, he explained that Chinese fighter developments had been accounted for when the F-22 numbers were set, and that the U.S. would have a considerable advantage in stealth aircraft in 2025 even with F-35 delays. In December 2011, the 195th and final F-22 was completed out of 8 test and 187 production aircraft built; the jet was delivered on 2 May 2012. The curtailed procurement would force the USAF to operate the F-15C/D into the 2020s in order to retain adequate numbers of air superiority fighters. This, as it turned out, would not be a bad of difficult thing.
In April 2016, the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee, citing advances in air warfare systems of Russia and China, directed the USAF to conduct a cost study and assessment associated with resuming production of the F-22. On 9 June 2017, the USAF submitted their report to Congress stating they had no plans to restart the F-22 production line due to economic and logistical challenges; it estimated it would cost approximately $50 billion to procure 194 additional F-22s at a cost of $206–216 million per aircraft, including approximately $9.9 billion for non-recurring start-up costs and $40.4 billion for aircraft procurement costs with the first delivery in the mid-to-late 2020s. The F-22 would be old, outdated, outmoded, and costing the US taxpayer more money than it would be worth.
The long-duration time gap since the end of production meant hiring new workers and sourcing replacement vendors, contributing to the high start-up costs and lead times. The USAF believed that the funding would be better invested in its next-generation Air Superiority 2030 effort, which initially supported the F-35 Lightning II, but evolved into the development of the 6th generation Next Generation Air Dominance system.
The F-22 and its subsystems were designed to be upgraded over its life cycle in anticipation for technological advances and evolving threats. The modernization and upgrades consist of software and hardware modifications, or Tactical Mandates, captured under numbered Increments, originally called Spirals, as well as software-only Operational Flight Program (OFP) Updates. Amid debates over the airplane's relevance in asymmetric counterinsurgency warfare, the first Increments and OFP Updates primarily focused on ground attack, or strike capabilities. Increment 2, the first upgrade program, was implemented in 2005 for Block 20 aircraft onward and enabled the employment of Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM). The improved AN/APG-77(V)1 radar, which incorporates air-to-ground modes, was certified in March 2007 and fitted on airframes from Lot 5 onward. Increment 3.1 and Updates 3 and 4 for Block 30/35 aircraft improved ground-attack capabilities through synthetic aperture radar mapping and radio emitter direction finding, electronic attack and Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) integration; testing began in 2009 and the first upgraded aircraft was delivered in 2011. To address oxygen deprivation issues, F-22s were fitted with an automatic backup oxygen system (ABOS) and modified life support system starting in 2012. The problem being, the Raptor couldn't keep up with the changing times. Aside from capability upgrades, the F-22 fleet underwent a $350 million "structures retrofit program" to address improper titanium heat treatment in the parts of certain airframe batches. By January 2021, all aircraft had gone through the Structural Repair Program to ensure full lifetimes for all aircraft.
PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATIONS
The F-22 Raptor is officially a fifth-generation air superiority fighter that is considered fourth generation in stealth aircraft technology by the USAF. It is the first operational aircraft to combine super-cruise, super-maneuverability, stealth, and sensor fusion in a single weapons platform. The F-22 has clipped diamond-like delta wings blended into the fuselage with four empennage surfaces and leading edge root extensions running to the upper outboard corner of the caret inlets. Flight control surfaces include leading-edge flaps, flaperons, ailerons, rudders on the canted vertical stabilizers, and all-moving horizontal tails (stabilators); for speed brake function, the ailerons deflect up, flaperons down, and rudders outwards to increase drag. The aircraft has a refueling boom receptacle centered on its spine and retractable tricycle landing gear as well as an emergency tailhook for emergency arrested landings such as on an aircraft carrier.
Pratt & Whitney F119 afterburning turbofan during testing.
The aircraft's dual Pratt & Whitney F119 augmented turbofan engines (see left) are closely spaced and incorporate pitch-axis thrust vectoring nozzles with a range of ±20 degrees; the nozzles are fully integrated into the F-22's flight controls and vehicle management system. Each engine has maximum thrust in the 35,000 lbf class.
The F-22's thrust-to-weight ratio at typical combat weight is nearly at unity in maximum military power and 1.25 in full afterburner. The caret inlets generate oblique shocks with the upper inboard corners to ensure good total pressure recovery and efficient supersonic flow compression. Maximum speed without external stores is approximately Mach 1.8 at military power and greater than Mach 2 with full afterburners engaged.
The F-22's high cruise speed and operating altitude over prior fighters improve the effectiveness of its sensors and weapon systems, and increase survivability against ground defenses such as surface-to-air missiles. The ability to supercruise, or sustain supersonic flight without using afterburners, allows it to intercept targets that afterburner-dependent aircraft would lack the fuel to reach. The use of internal weapons bays permits the aircraft to maintain comparatively higher performance over most other combat-configured fighters due to a lack of parasitic drag from external stores. The F-22's thrust and aerodynamics enable regular combat speeds of Mach 1.5 at 50,000 feet (15,000 m), thus providing 50% greater employment range for air-to-air missiles and twice the effective range for JDAMs than with prior platforms. Its structure contains a significant amount of high-strength materials to withstand stress and heat of sustained supersonic flight. Respectively, titanium alloys and bismaleimide/epoxy composites comprise 42% and 24% of the structural weight.
The F-22's aerodynamics, relaxed stability, and powerful thrust-vectoring engines give it excellent maneuverability and energy potential across its flight envelope. The airplane has excellent high alpha (angle of attack) characteristics, capable of flying at trimmed alpha of over 60° while maintaining roll control and performing maneuvers such as the Herbst maneuver (J-turn) and Pugachev's Cobra. The triplex-redundant fly-by-wire control system and full-authority digital engine control (FADEC) make the aircraft highly departure resistant and controllable, thus giving the pilot carefree handling.
AVIONICS
F-22A with P&W F119 Afterburning turbofan engines activated over California desert.
Credit: Pratt & Whitney
The aircraft has an integrated avionics system where through sensor fusion, data from all onboard sensor systems as well as off-board inputs are filtered and processed into a combined tactical picture, thus enhancing the pilot's situational awareness and reducing workload. Key mission systems include Sanders/General Electric AN/ALR-94 electronic warfare system, Martin Marietta AN/AAR-56 infrared and ultraviolet Missile Launch Detector (MLD), Westinghouse/Texas Instruments AN/APG-77 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, TRW Communication/Navigation/Identification (CNI) suite, and long range advanced IRST currently being tested. The F-22's baseline software has some 1.7 million lines of code, the majority involving the mission systems such as processing radar data. The integrated nature of the avionics, as well as the use of Ada (computer programming language rarely used anymore), has made the development and testing of upgrades challenging to say the least. To enable more rapid upgrades, the avionics suite added an open mission systems (OMS) processor, as well as an open-source Kubernetes platform called the Open Systems Enclave (OSE) to enable the use of containerized software from third-party vendors.
F-22 with ECM bus added in front of the cockpit.
The F-22's ability to operate close to the battlefield gives the aircraft threat detection and identification capability comparative with the RC-135 Rivet Joint, and the ability to function as a "mini-AWACS", though its radar is less powerful than those of dedicated platforms. This allows the F-22 to rapidly designate targets for allies and coordinate friendly aircraft. Data can be transferred to other aircraft through a BACN or via Link 16 using MIDS-JTRS. The IEEE 1394B bus developed for the F-22 was derived from the commercial IEEE 1394 "FireWire" bus system.
In 2007, the F-22's radar was tested as a wireless data transceiver, transmitting data at 548 megabits per second and receiving at gigabit speed, far faster than the Link 16 system. The radio frequency receivers of the electronic support measures (ESM) system give the aircraft the ability to perform intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) tasks. ISR is a core component of the US Air Force’s mission.
Electronic Warfare component
The APG-77 radar has a low-observable, active-aperture, electronically scanned antenna with multiple target track-while-scan in all weather conditions; radar emissions can also be focused to overload enemy sensors as an electronic-attack capability. The radar changes frequencies more than 1,000 times per second to lower interception probability and has an estimated range of 125–150 mi (201–241 km) against an 11 sq ft (1 m2) target and 250 mi (400 km) or more in narrow beams. The upgraded APG-77(V)1 provides air-to-ground functionality through synthetic aperture radar mapping and strike modes. Alongside the radar is the ALR-94 electronic warfare system, among the most technically complex equipment on the F-22, that integrates more than 30 antennas blended into the wings and fuselage for all-round radar warning receiver (RWR) coverage and threat geolocation. It can be used as a passive detector capable of searching targets, with range (250+ nmi) exceeding the radar's, and can provide enough information for a radar lock and cue emissions to a narrow beam (down to 2° by 2° in azimuth and elevation).
HIGH TECH COCKPIT
F-22A glass cockpit setup at night.
Credit: Lockheed-Martin
The F-22 has a glass cockpit with all-digital flight instruments. The monochrome head-up display offers a wide field of view and serves as a primary flight instrument; information is also displayed upon six color liquid-crystal display (LCD) panels. The primary flight controls are a force-sensitive side-stick controller and a pair of throttles. The USAF initially wanted to implement direct voice input (DVI) controls, but this was judged to be too technically risky and was abandoned. The canopy's dimensions are approximately 355 cm long × 115 cm wide× 69 cm tall and weighs 360 pounds. The canopy was redesigned after the original design lasted an average of 331 hours instead of the required 800 hours.
The F-22 has integrated radio functionality, the signal processing systems are virtualized rather than as a separate hardware module. The integrated control panel (ICP) is a keypad system for entering communications, navigation, and autopilot data. Two 7.6 cm × 10.2 cm up-front displays (UFDs) located around the ICP are used to display integrated caution advisory/warning (ICAW) data, CNI data and also serve as the stand-by flight instrumentation group and fuel quantity indicator for redundancy. The stand-by flight group displays an artificial horizon, for basic instrument meteorological conditions. The 20 cm × 20 cm primary multi-function display (PMFD) is located under the ICP, and is used for navigation and situation assessment. Three 15.9 cm × 15.9 cm secondary multi-function displays (SMFD) are located around the PMFD - Primary - for tactical information and stores management.
The F-22 has a complex life support system, which includes the onboard oxygen generation system (OBOGS), protective pilot garments, and a breathing regulator/anti-g (BRAG) valve controlling flow and pressure to the pilot's mask and garments. The pilot garments were developed under the Advanced Technology Anti-G Suit (ATAGS) project and protect against chemical/biological hazards and cold-water immersion, counter g-forces and low pressure at high altitudes, and provide thermal relief.
M4 Carine rifle of the US Army, kept in the cockpit ejection module.
Following a series of hypoxia-related issues, the cockpit’s life support system was consequently revised to include an automatic backup oxygen system and a new flight vest valve. In combat environments, the ejection seat includes a modified M4 carbine rifle designated the GAU-5/A. See right.
-The M4 carbine is a 5.56×45mm NATO, gas-operated, magazine-fed carbine developed in the United States during the 1980s. It is a shortened version of the M16A2 assault rifle used extensively by the US Army. - See right.
FUN STUFF / ARMAMENT
The F-22 has three internal weapons bays: a large main bay on the bottom of the fuselage, and two smaller bays on the sides of the fuselage, aft of the engine inlets; a small bay for countermeasures such as flares is located behind each side bay. The main bay is split along the centerline and can accommodate six LAU-142/A launchers for beyond-visual-range (BVR) missiles and each side bay has an LAU-141/A launcher for short-range missiles. The primary air-to-air missiles are the AIM-120 AMRAAM ) Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missiles) and the AIM-9 Sidewinder, with planned integration of the AIM-260 JATM (Joint Advanced Tactical Missile). Missile launches require the bay doors to be open for less than a second, during which pneumatic or hydraulic arms push missiles clear of the aircraft; this is to reduce vulnerability to detection and to deploy missiles during high-speed flight. An internally mounted M61A2 Vulcan 20 mm rotary cannon is embedded in the airplane's right wing root with the muzzle covered by a retractable door. The radar projection of the cannon fire's path is displayed on the pilot's head-up display making aiming and firing the main gun easier.
F-22 Weapons Bay - Close up - half-open, featuring missile rack (right) and racks for SDB - Small Diameter Bombs (mounted, left)
Although designed for air-to-air missiles, the main bay can replace four launchers with two bomb racks that can each carry one 450 kg or four 110 kg bombs for a total of 910 kg of air-to-surface ordnance. While capable of carrying weapons with GPS guidance such as JDAMs and SDBs, the F-22 cannot self-designate laser-guided weapons and for such weapons requires a spotter.
While the F-22 typically carries weapons internally, the wings include four hardpoints, each rated to handle 2,300 kg. Each hardpoint can accommodate a pylon that can carry a detachable 2,270 L external fuel tank or a launcher holding two air-to-air missiles; the two inboard hardpoints are "plumbed" for external fuel tanks. The two outboard hardpoints have since been dedicated to a pair of stealthy pods housing the IRST and mission systems.
F-22A With External Weapons Pylons - AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles can be seen mounted.
The aircraft can easily jettison external tanks and their pylon attachments to restore its low observable characteristics and kinematic performance.
STEALTH PERFORMANCE
The F-22 was designed to be highly difficult to detect and track by radar. Measures to reduce RCS include airframe shaping such as alignment of edges, internal carriage of weapons, fixed-geometry serpentine inlets and curved vanes that prevent line-of-sight of the engine faces and turbines from any exterior view, use of radar-absorbent material (RAM), and attention to detail such as hinges and pilot helmets that could provide a radar return. The F-22 was also designed to have decreased radio frequency emissions, infrared signature and acoustic signature as well as reduced visibility to the naked eye. The aircraft's flat thrust-vectoring nozzles reduce infrared emissions of the exhaust plume to mitigate the threat of infrared homing ("heat seeking") surface-to-air or air-to-air missiles. Additional measures to reduce the infrared signature include special topcoat and active cooling to manage the heat buildup from supersonic flight.
F-22A in test-flight over Edwards Air Force Base, California
Compared to previous stealth designs like the F-117, the F-22 is less reliant on RAM, which are maintenance-intensive and susceptible to adverse weather conditions. Unlike the B-2, which requires climate-controlled hangars, the F-22 can undergo repairs on the flight line or in a normal hangar. The F-22 incorporates a Signature Assessment System which delivers warnings when the radar signature is degraded and necessitates repair. While the F-22's exact RCS is classified, in 2009 Lockheed Martin released information indicating that from certain angles the airplane has an RCS of 0.0001 m2 or −40 dBsm – equivalent to the radar reflection of a "steel marble"; the aircraft can mount a Luneburg lens reflector to mask its RCS. Effectively maintaining the stealth features can decrease the F-22's mission capable rate to 62–70%.
The effectiveness of the stealth characteristics is difficult to gauge. The RCS value is a restrictive measurement of the aircraft's frontal or side area from the perspective of a static radar. When an aircraft maneuvers it exposes a completely different set of angles and surface area, potentially increasing radar observability. As such, the F-22's stealth contouring and radar-absorbent materials (RAM) are chiefly effective against high-frequency radars, usually found on other aircraft. The effects of Rayleigh scattering and resonance mean that low-frequency radars such as weather radars and early-warning radars are more likely to detect the F-22 due to its physical size. These are also conspicuous, susceptible to clutter, and have low precision. Additionally, while faint or fleeting radar contacts make defenders aware that a stealth aircraft is present, reliably vectoring interception to attack the aircraft is much more challenging. According to the USAF, an F-22 surprised an Iranian F-4 Phantom II that was attempting to intercept an American UAV, despite Iran's assertion of having military VHF radar coverage over the Persian Gulf. This story had made the rounds on YouTube, the Air Force Times, and even USA TODAY.
MAINTENANCE QUEEN
Each airplane requires a three-week packaged maintenance plan (PMP) every 300 flight hours. The stealth coatings of the F-22 were designed to be more robust and weather-resistant than those used in earlier stealth aircraft. However, early coatings failed against rain and moisture when F-22s were initially posted to Guam in 2009. The stealth system account for almost one third of maintenance, with coatings being particularly demanding; more durable coatings are being developed in order to reduce maintenance efforts.
F-22 depot maintenance is solely performed at Ogden Air Logistics Complex at Hill AFB, Utah, and considerable care is taken during maintenance due to the limited attrition reserve aircraft numbers of the small fleet size. F-22s were available for missions 63% of the time on average in 2015, up from 40% when the aircraft was introduced in 2005. Maintenance hours per flight hour was also improved from 30 early on to 10.5 by 2009, lower than the requirement of 12.
OPERATIONS
In terms of combat operations, the F-22 has none really by comparison to other modern combat aircraft.
F-22A intercepting a Russian Federation Tu-95 near Alaska.
The F-22 flight test program consisted of flight sciences, developmental test (DT), and initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) by the 411th Flight Test Squadron (FLTS) at Edwards AFB, California, as well as follow-on OT&E and development of tactics and operational employment by the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron at Nellis AFB, Nevada. Flight testing began in 1997 with Raptor 4001, the first EMD F-22, and eight more EMD jets assigned to the 411th FLTS would participate in the test program under the Combined Test Force (CTF) at Edwards. The first two aircraft conducted envelope expansion testing such as flying qualities, air vehicle performance, propulsion, and stores separation. The third aircraft, the first to have production-level internal structure, tested flight loads, flutter, and JDAM separation, while two non-flying F-22s were built for testing static loads and fatigue.
Boeing 757 EMD (it was eventually sold to China Airlines)
Subsequent EMD aircraft and the Boeing 757 FTB tested avionics - see left, CNI, environmental qualifications, and observables, with the first combat-capable Block 3.0 software flying in 2001. Raptor 4001 was retired from flight testing in 2000 and subsequently sent to Wright-Patterson AFB for survivability testing, including live fire testing and battle damage repair training. Other retired EMD F-22s have been used as maintenance trainers.
The F-22's numerous technological leaps required extensive testing that would result in repeated delays. While the first production aircraft was delivered to Edwards in October 2002 for IOT&E and the first aircraft for the 422nd TES at Nellis arrived in January 2003, IOT&E was pushed back from its planned start in mid-2003, with avionics stability being particularly challenging. Following a preliminary assessment, called OT&E Phase 1, formal IOT&E began in April 2004 and was completed in December of that year. This marked the successful demonstration of the jet's air-to-air mission capability, although it was also more maintenance intensive than expected. A Follow-On OT&E (FOT&E) in 2005 cleared the F-22's air-to-ground mission capability. Delivery of operational aircraft for pilot training at Tyndall AFB, Florida began in September 2003, and the first combat ready F-22 of the 1st Fighter Wing arrived at Langley AFB, Virginia in January 2005.
As the F-22 was designed for upgrades throughout its lifecycle, the 411th FLTS and 422nd TES would continue the DT/OT&E and tactics development of these upgrades. The 411th FLTS' fleet was further augmented by a dedicated Block 30 test aircraft in 2010.
In August of 2008, an unmodified F-22 of the 411th FLTS performed the first ever air-to-air refueling of an aircraft using synthetic jet fuel as part of a wider USAF effort to qualify aircraft to use the fuel, a 50/50 mix of JP-8 and a Fischer–Tropsch process-produced, natural gas-based fuel. In 2011, an F-22 flew supersonic on a 50% mixture of biofuel derived from camelina. - a Flora based biofuel.
TRAINING
F-22 EMD Training & Testing Aircraft practicing refueling from a KC-35 Stratotanker over California.
The 43rd Fighter Squadron was reactivated in 2002 as the F-22 Formal Training Unit (FTU) for the type's basic course at Tyndall AFB in Florida. Following severe damage to the installation in the wake of Hurricane Michael in 2018, the squadron and its aircraft were relocated to nearby Eglin AFB; the storm had also damaged several F-22s, which were later repaired. The FTU and its aircraft were reassigned to the 71st Fighter Squadron at Langley AFB in 2023.
To reduce operating costs and prolong the F-22's service life, some pilot training sorties are performed using flight simulators, while the T-38 Talon is used for adversary training (OPFOR). The advanced F-22 weapons instructor course at USAF Weapons School is conducted by the 433rd Weapons Squadron at Nellis AFB, Nevada.
INTRODUCTION
F-22A During a Red Flag Exercise
In December of 2005, the USAF announced that the F-22 had achieved Initial Operational Capability (IOC) with the 94th Fighter Squadron. The unit subsequently participated in Exercise Northern Edge in Alaska in June 2006 and Exercise Red Flag 07–1 at Nellis AFB, Las Vegas, Nevada, in February of 2007, where it demonstrated the F-22's greatly increased air combat capabilities when flying against Red Force Aggressor F-15s and F-16s, refining operational tactics and employment in combat. See left.
The F-22 achieved Full Operational Capability (FOC) in December 2007, when General John Corley of Air Combat Command (ACC) officially declared the F-22s of the integrated active duty 1st Fighter Wing and Virginia Air National Guard 192d Fighter Wing fully operational. This was followed by an Operational Readiness Inspection (ORI) of the integrated wing in April 2008, in which it was rated "excellent" in all categories, with a simulated kill-ratio of 221–0.
FULL SERVICE
Following IOC and large-scale exercises, the F-22 flew its first homeland defense mission in January 2007. In November 2007, F-22s of 90th Fighter Squadron at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, performed their first North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) interception of two Russian Tu-95MS bombers (see above, top of section). Since then, F-22s have also escorted probing Tu-160 bombers.
F-22s being prepped for transfer to Kadena Air Base, Japan.
The F-22 was first deployed overseas in February 2007 with the 27th Fighter Squadron to Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. See right picture. This first overseas deployment was initially marred by problems when six F-22s flying from Hickam AFB, Hawaii, experienced multiple software-related system failures while crossing the International Date Line (along the 180th meridian of longitude). The aircraft returned to Hawaii by following tanker aircraft. Within 48 hours, the error was resolved and the journey resumed. Kadena would be a frequent rotation for F-22 units; they have also been involved in training exercises in South Korea and Malaysia.
Defense Secretary Gates initially refused to deploy F-22s to the Middle East in 2007; the type made its first deployment in the region at Al Dhafra Air Base in the UAE in 2009. In April 2012, F-22s have been rotating into Al Dhafra, less than 200 miles from Iran. In March 2013, the USAF announced that an F-22 had intercepted an Iranian F-4 Phantom II that approached within 16 miles of an MQ-1 Predator drone flying off the Iranian coastline. - the widely-publicized incident already mentioned.
F-22A Refueling during Combat Ops over Syria, Operation: Inherent Resolve
On 22 September 2014, F-22s performed the type's first combat sorties by conducting some of the opening strikes of Operation Inherent Resolve, the American-led intervention in Syria; aircraft dropped 1,000-pound GPS-guided bombs on Islamic State targets near Tishrin Dam. Between September 2014 and July 2015, F-22s flew 204 sorties over Syria, dropping 270 bombs at some 60 locations. Throughout their deployment, F-22s conducted close air support (CAS) and also deterred Syrian, Iranian, and Russian aircraft from attacking U.S.-backed Kurdish forces and disrupting U.S. operations in the region. F-22s also participated in the U.S. strikes that defeated pro-government and Russian Wagner Group paramilitary forces near Khasham in eastern Syria on 7 February 2018. These strikes notwithstanding, the F-22's main role in the operation was conducting intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. - the Raptor’s chief role now.
In late 2014, the USAF tested a rapid deployment concept involving four F-22s and one C-17 for support, first proposed in 2008 by two F-22 pilots. The goal was for the type to be able to set up and engage in combat within 24 hours. Four F-22s were deployed to Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany in August, Łask Air Base in Poland, and Ämari Air Base in Estonia in September 2015, to train with NATO allies.
In November 2017, F-22s operating alongside B-52s bombed opium production and storage facilities in Taliban-controlled regions of Afghanistan.
On 4 February 2023, an F-22 of the 1st Fighter Wing shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon within visual range off the coast of South Carolina at an altitude of 60,000 to 65,000 ft. The wreckage landed approximately 6 miles offshore and was subsequently secured by ships of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard. F-22s shot down additional high-altitude objects (balloons) near the coast of Alaska in February and over the Yukon territory also in February.
ISSUES
During the initial years of service, F-22 pilots experienced symptoms as a result of oxygen system issues that include loss of consciousness, memory loss, emotional lability and neurological changes as well as lingering respiratory problems and a chronic cough; the issues resulted in a four-month grounding in 2011. In August 2012, the DoD found that the BRAG valve, used to inflate the pilot's vest during high-g maneuvers, was defective and restricted breathing and the OBOGS (onboard oxygen generation system) unexpectedly reduced oxygen levels during high-g maneuvers. The Raptor Aeromedical Working Group had recommended several changes in 2005 regarding oxygen supply issues that were initially unfunded but received further consideration in 2012. The F-22 CTF and 412th Aerospace Medicine Squadron eventually determined that breathing restrictions were the root cause. The coughing symptoms were attributed to acceleration atelectasis from high g exposure and the OBOGS delivering excessive oxygen concentration at low altitudes. The presence of toxins and particles in some ground crew was deemed to be unrelated. Modifications to the life-support equipment and oxygen system allowed the distance and altitude flight restrictions to be lifted on 4 April 2013.
Finally, VARIANTS
YF-22A
Pre-production technology demonstrator for Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) demonstration/validation phase; two were built.
F-22A
Single-seat version, was designated F/A-22A in early 2000s; 195 built, consisting of 8 test and 187 production aircraft.
F-22B
Planned two-seat version, cancelled in 1996 to save development costs with test aircraft orders converted to F-22A.
Naval F-22 variant
Planned carrier-borne variant of the F-22 with variable-sweep wings for the U.S. Navy's Navy Advanced Tactical Fighter (NATF) program to replace the F-14 Tomcat.
Naval program was cancelled in 1991.
OPERATORS
Due to the export ban, only the United States Air Force is the official operator of the Lockheed-Martin F-22A Raptor and it's associated variants.
KNOWN FRONTLINE SQUADRONS AKA COMBAT UNITS
Wing, Squadron Name, & Station/Location
1st Fighter Wing at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia:
27th Fighter Squadron
94th Fighter Squadron
71st Fighter Squadron (Training Unit, originally based at Tyndall Air Force Base with the 43rd FS, relocated after Hurricane Michael to Eglin, then to Langley.)
3rd Wing at Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson, Alaska:
90th Fighter Squadron
525th Fighter Squadron
15th Wing at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii:
19th Fighter Squadron (Pacific Air Forces associate unit)
154th Wing at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii:
199th Fighter Squadron (Air National Guard unit)
192nd Fighter Wing at Joint Base Langley–Eustis, Virginia
——————
149th Fighter Squadron (Air National Guard associate unit)
477th Fighter Group – Elmendorf AFB, Alaska
302d Fighter Squadron (Air Force Reserve Command associate unit)
Test and Evaluation Squadrons - non-combat
57th Wing at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada
422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron
433rd Weapons Squadron
412th Test Wing at Edwards Air Force Base, California
411th Flight Test Squadron
