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F-22 Raptor
The F/A-22 Raptor is a combat jet aircraft built by
Lockheed Martin and Boeing, intended to be the leading
United States advanced tactical fighter (ATF) in the
early part of the 21st century. The first test flight of
the Raptor occurred on September 7, 1997. The first
production F/A-22 was delivered to the Nellis Air Force
Base, Nevada, on January 14, 2003.
The F22 Raptor is designed to carry its air-to-air
missiles in internal bays to avoid disrupting its
stealthiness. The missiles are launched by hydraulic arms
that hurl them away from the jet so quickly that the
weapons-bay doors pop open for less than one second.
The United States Air
Force originally planned an order of 750 ATFs, with
production from 1994. Following the 1990 Major Aircraft
Review, production was to begin in 1996 for a total of
648 aircraft. By 1994 the figure stood at 442 planes for
service entry in 2003/2004. Based on the F/A-22, the
swing-wing NATF was proposed for the U.S. Navy to replace
the F-14 Tomcat, though the program was subsequently
cancelled in 1993.
- Role:
single-seat air superiority fighter
- Dimensions
- Engines
- Two Pratt and Whitney
F119-PW-100 turbofans each rated at
155.69kN (35,000lb) static thrust with
afterburning, capable of supercruise and
thrust vectoring
- Performance
- Speed
- Maximum level
speed "clean" at
optimum altitude - Mach 1.58 in
supercruise mode; maximum speed
with afterburners is mentioned at
"approx M2.0"
(2400kph).
- Service Ceiling
- Classified:
>50,000ft (15,240 meters)
- Weights
- Armament (internal)
- Six AIM-120C AMRAAM
(Advanced medium-range air-to-air
missiles) or
- Two AIM-120C AMRAAMs,
two AIM-9 Sidewinders and two 1,000-pound
Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM)
- One M61A2 20mm Gatling
gun
- Armament (external)
- Four external stations
for weapons or fuel tanks
- Cost: $152M (based on
September 2003 estimate of build 276 aircraft at
USD 42 bn )
Text is available under
the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
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