Lockheed Martin's F-22 Raptor Air superiority fighter
By Willie Bodenstein
25.08.2024
Google Banner Ad
Who would have thought that Lockheed's F-22 Raptor that had its first flight on 7 September 1997 and was introduced into service in on 15 December 2005 this year, 2024 enters it 20th year of serves in the US Airforce?
Designed as an air superiority fighter, the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor is an American twin-engine, all-weather, supersonic stealth fighter aircraft that also incorporates ground attack, electronic warfare, and signals intelligence capabilities.
Primarily the F-22 had been designed to defeat contemporary and projected Soviet fighters. However, the rather unexpected dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991and the virtual end of the Cold had major impacts on program funding and the DoD reduced its urgency for the new weapon systems. The following years would see successive reductions in its budget.
Although funds were eventually restored, the planned number continued to decline due to delays and cost overruns and the program was ultimately cut to 195 aircraft. In 2004, with its focus on asymmetric counterinsurgency warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan, the DoD further cut the planned F-22 procurement despite the USAF's requirement for 381.
In 2009 due to political opposition from 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 production was further cut to 187.
Eventually 195 F-22s were built. The first two were EMD aircraft configured for initial flight testing and envelope expansion, while the third was built to represent the internal structure of production airframes and enabled it to test full flight loads. Six more EMD aircraft were built 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.
In order to prevent the inadvertent disclosure of the aircraft's stealth technology and classified capabilities to the U.S.'s adversaries a provision prohibiting the approval or license of the sale of the F-22 to any foreign government.
Following IOC and large-scale exercises, the F-22 flew its first homeland defence mission in January 2007 under Operation Noble Eagle. In November 2007, F-22s of 90th Fighter Squadron at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, performed their first North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) interception of two Russian Tu-95MS bombers.
The F-22 was first deployed overseas in February 2007 with the 27th Fighter Squadron to Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. 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 (180th meridian of longitude). The aircraft returned to Hawaii by following tanker aircraft. Within 48 hours, the error was resolved and the journey resumed.
US Defence Secretary Gates initially refused to deploy F-22s to the Middle East in 2007. Subsequently the type made its first deployment in the region at Al Dhafra Air Base in the UAE in 2009.
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. 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 .
The F-22 also performed missions in other regions of the Middle East; in November 2017, F-22s operating alongside B-52s bombed opium production and storage facilities in Taliban-controlled regions of Afghanistan.
The USAF expects to begin retiring the F-22 in the 2030s as it gets replaced by the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) crewed fighter. In May 2021, Air Force Chief of Staff Charles Q. Brown Jr. said that he envisioned a reduction in the future number of fighter fleets to "four plus one": the F-22 followed by NGAD, the F-35A, the F-15E followed by F-15EX, the F-16 followed by "MR-X", and the A-10; the A-10 would later be dropped from the plans due that aircraft's accelerated retirement.
In 2019, the F-22 cost US$35,000 (~$41,145 in 2023) per flight hour to operate.
The last F22 was delivered in 2012.
AirVenture 2024 a typical afternoon show from the flightline & camp
