This headline caught my eye on the USAF AIM point site. The only question I have is how much will this modification cost to get what the last Chief of Staff called the F/A-22?
I still get a laugh over all the cheerleading and money that was poured down the F-22 black hole. While the Raptor will probably be a great fighter plane, unless we actually build another 180 or so jets we will have effectively disarmed ourselves. With a squadron of say 20 jets you always end up with at least one down for phase, one hard broke and a rotating hanger queen. In the event of the balloon going up on the Far East (the only real adversary to think about) you suddenly have 34 jets in PACAF to deploy with. I don’t care what the cheerleaders say the kind of sortie count that can be generated will help but not be earth shattering. Makes you wonder why we didn’t build the F-15X, which as proposed would have been a new build Eagle incorporating many new avionics systems, new wing, engines and offering up to 90% of the ATF spec at the then claimed fly away costs of under 75 million
The original concept of the then ATF was to build 700 or so silver bullets for use against the Warsaw Pact. Well the wall came down the Pact dissolved and suddenly the F-22 was the answer to a question no one was asking. The Air Staff still wanted it’s new toy so development continued but weight was gained, prices kept going up, and some testing is alleged to be incomplete or insufficient based on the original spec. While all this was going on budget fights persisted. I saw many viable airframes sent to the bone yard with either no replacement or at best a stop gap fill in just to keep F-22 funding intact. A partial list includes the F-4G Wild Weasel, EF-111 Raven, continued flying of ancient C-130E, and KC-135E, delays in acquisition of a new CSAR helicopter, and many more programs for new hardware on the existing fighter and transport/tanker fleet, all this to get us 180 new jets. I say that the fighter mafia at ACC sacrificed the force for their new plane.
As an old maintainer I would like to see the actual FMC (Fully Mission Capable) stats now on the F-22 and see were we are 3-4 years down the road. One of the items touted is how much less in needs maintenance hours wise compared to the Eagle. Shoot it’s brand new everything should work great for the first 500 hours or so, having said this I would like to look at MBTF on the radar ad ECM because without these systems fully functional the jet is like any other expensive flying club airplane. With its incredible long journey in development I would also be curious to parts obsolescence in the avionics systems.
If the goal is to build more Raptors then do it and build more E models now and start updating the radar and ECM on existing airframes because we still will need real fighter bombers that can deliver the big boys (GBU10/28, AGM- 30) when required. The answers to these points will be well down the rode. I just hope all the hype about the Raptor is true. If it is the F-22 will stand out as the first jet fighter in history to meet its expectations. The article is below.
I still get a laugh over all the cheerleading and money that was poured down the F-22 black hole. While the Raptor will probably be a great fighter plane, unless we actually build another 180 or so jets we will have effectively disarmed ourselves. With a squadron of say 20 jets you always end up with at least one down for phase, one hard broke and a rotating hanger queen. In the event of the balloon going up on the Far East (the only real adversary to think about) you suddenly have 34 jets in PACAF to deploy with. I don’t care what the cheerleaders say the kind of sortie count that can be generated will help but not be earth shattering. Makes you wonder why we didn’t build the F-15X, which as proposed would have been a new build Eagle incorporating many new avionics systems, new wing, engines and offering up to 90% of the ATF spec at the then claimed fly away costs of under 75 million
The original concept of the then ATF was to build 700 or so silver bullets for use against the Warsaw Pact. Well the wall came down the Pact dissolved and suddenly the F-22 was the answer to a question no one was asking. The Air Staff still wanted it’s new toy so development continued but weight was gained, prices kept going up, and some testing is alleged to be incomplete or insufficient based on the original spec. While all this was going on budget fights persisted. I saw many viable airframes sent to the bone yard with either no replacement or at best a stop gap fill in just to keep F-22 funding intact. A partial list includes the F-4G Wild Weasel, EF-111 Raven, continued flying of ancient C-130E, and KC-135E, delays in acquisition of a new CSAR helicopter, and many more programs for new hardware on the existing fighter and transport/tanker fleet, all this to get us 180 new jets. I say that the fighter mafia at ACC sacrificed the force for their new plane.
As an old maintainer I would like to see the actual FMC (Fully Mission Capable) stats now on the F-22 and see were we are 3-4 years down the road. One of the items touted is how much less in needs maintenance hours wise compared to the Eagle. Shoot it’s brand new everything should work great for the first 500 hours or so, having said this I would like to look at MBTF on the radar ad ECM because without these systems fully functional the jet is like any other expensive flying club airplane. With its incredible long journey in development I would also be curious to parts obsolescence in the avionics systems.
If the goal is to build more Raptors then do it and build more E models now and start updating the radar and ECM on existing airframes because we still will need real fighter bombers that can deliver the big boys (GBU10/28, AGM- 30) when required. The answers to these points will be well down the rode. I just hope all the hype about the Raptor is true. If it is the F-22 will stand out as the first jet fighter in history to meet its expectations. The article is below.
BY: GAYLE S. PUTRICH , Defense News, 10/19/2007
The U.S. Air Force is slowly expanding the slate of planes that carry the small-diameter bomb (SDB), starting with the F-22 Raptor.
A Raptor test-dropped an SDB in late September at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Another flight test is expected by month’s end, according to Air Force sources.
“Current planning is for basic SDB F-22 capability in the 2014 time frame,” said a service representative via e-mail.
The SDB, a 250-pound guided weapon designed to strike fixed targets from standoff range while causing little collateral damage, has been in use since November. It is only carried on the F-15E Strike Eagle.
Adding the SDB to the Raptor’s arsenal is more complex than other aircraft because the stealthy fifth-generation fighter carries weapons in an internal bay rather than on external pylons.
The U.S. Air Force is slowly expanding the slate of planes that carry the small-diameter bomb (SDB), starting with the F-22 Raptor.
A Raptor test-dropped an SDB in late September at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Another flight test is expected by month’s end, according to Air Force sources.
“Current planning is for basic SDB F-22 capability in the 2014 time frame,” said a service representative via e-mail.
The SDB, a 250-pound guided weapon designed to strike fixed targets from standoff range while causing little collateral damage, has been in use since November. It is only carried on the F-15E Strike Eagle.
Adding the SDB to the Raptor’s arsenal is more complex than other aircraft because the stealthy fifth-generation fighter carries weapons in an internal bay rather than on external pylons.
(Photo USAF)
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