Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor

Review

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The Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor is the current stealth air superiority fighter jet employed by the United States Air Force. The jet was initially designed with air superiority in mind but has found additional roles in electronic warfare, air to ground attacks, intelligence gathering and more. The Raptors stealth design has allowed it to become a fighter jet with unmatched versatility and performance. The future of the F-22 has become uncertain as the funding for the additional units to be built has been pulled and the jet is facing stiff competition from the developing F-35 program. There have been 168 units built thus far, of the scheduled 187 that were called for in the initial plans. Although the future role and production plans of the F-22 are uncertain, the one thing that is not up for debate is the fact that this is an aircraft that is unmatched on all levels. There are no other aircraft in the world that can match the maneuverability, power, performance, stealth, and versatility of the F-22 Raptor.

Development
The United States Air Force started the Advance Tactical Fighter(ATF) program in 1981 with the initial goal of designing and building an aircraft to replace the F-15. Given the worldwide political tension at the beginning of the 1980s the goal was to attain air superiority over the rest of the world, most notably Russia. The ATF program was in many ways a direct response to the Soviet Union’s/Russia’s development of the Su-37 Flanker, which made its first flight in 1977. The ATF program was viewed as the next natural step in military fighter jet development in order to keep the US from falling behind other nations.
The initial Request For Proposal(RFP) was made by the USAF in 1986 and two teams were selected from the responses received. The first team consisted of Lockheed Martin/Boeing/General Dynamics and the other team was Northrop Grumman/McDonnell Douglas. The two teams made up of the most notable names in military/civilian aircraft were chosen to compete in the design and test phase of the project, scheduled to be completed in a little over four years. The end result was essentially a “fly off” of the two prototypes and the best overall design would win the ultimate contract to build the aircraft.
The test flights showed that the Lockheed design had better manuverability, while the Northrop prototype led in speed and stealth. The USAF chose the Lockheed design as the winner on April 23, 1991. The decision was said to have been made based on the fact that the Northrop prototype had better manueverability, thus leading to an aircraft that would fare better in dog fighting and reign supreme in air superiority.

Design
The F-22 Raptor falls under the USAF’s classification of a fifth generation fighter jet, which is currently the most advanced fighter jet in production. It houses two Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 Afterburner Enabled Turbofans, which feature thrust vectoring nozzles. These nozzles account for the increased maneuverability and excellent handling characteristics of this fighter jet. These engines are estimated to each generate approximately 35,000 ft.lbs of thrust, although this has never been officially released. The design and power of the F-22 allow it to attain super-cruise mode and a speed of Mach 1.82, without using its afterburners. With the afterburners the Raptor is able to reach speeds upwards of Mach 2.0 . The ability to operate in super-cruise mode allows this aircraft to travel a greater range to carry out missions and can get there using less fuel.
The F-22 also has stealth features that are not found on previous aircraft that were built to avoid radar detection. The design relies less on radar absorbent materials, which are prohibitively expensive and result in more down time for maintenance. The aircraft was designed to be minimally noticed by all types of sensors including: infrared, radar, visual, radio frequency and acoustic. For example, the weapons are all located in internal bays with retractable doors to reduce the overall radar signature. The square ports on the aircraft also help to dissipate the heat signature of the engines, thus reducing the chances of any heat seeking weaponry.
The overall design of the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor is unmatched by any aircraft currently in operation. Although its future remains a bit uncertain, with the development of the F-35 possibly replacing it, it is currently the mainstay of the United States Air Force. There have been recent debates about the effectiveness of the aircraft due to reports of the comparatively low mission ready percentages. Aside from these numbers, which can be misleading, the F-22 has proven to be a worthy replacement of the F-15 and should continue to be a successful fighter jet into the future.