Check out this bombshell that Sweetman dropped on the USAF's premier fighter...
Without being persnickety, F-22 has delivered 40-some training and test
aircraft, 60 sorta-combat-capable jets, and 80-some that have the new
radar that should enable the aircraft do some of what was hoped for in
the early 2000s - after more billions have been spent. Wastefully or
otherwise.
Wow.
Let's break that down a bit.
40 training and test aircraft.
60 sorta combat capable jets.
80 that have new radar that SHOULD enable to do some of what was hoped for in the early 2000's.
A simple statement but so loaded. The F-22 is touted by some to be the ultimate fighter but from a super Air Force advocate like Sweetman we just had this dropped on our plate.
Interesting. But wait there is more. Does this explain the push to cancel the airplane? Does this explain the need to get the F-35 into service? Is this why the USAF is so comfortable in simply adding new AESA radars to the F-15 and F-16?
Is the drop off between the performance of a F-15 with 4 AIM-120 missiles loaded conformally and the F-22 carrying the same load internally that different? I would say probably not.
This whole F-22, F-35, Typhoon, Rafale, Gripen and F-18/15/16 is starting to make so much sense.
More to come I'm sure.
Update:
Read this story from Flight Global regarding the F-22 upgrade path...or lack thereof.
Under the common configuration plan, the combat-coded F-22 fleet is
separated into groups of 63 Block 30 and 87 Block 35 aircraft.
The Block 30s are being upgraded with Increment 3.1 capabilities,
which include air-to-ground and electronic attack modes for the Northrop Grumman APG-77 radar.
Meanwhile, the Block 35s will also be modernised with the USAF's most advanced air-to-air weapons - the Raytheon
AIM-120D AMRAAM and AIM-9X Sidewinder. The package, named Increment
3.2, also adds an automatic ground collision avoidance system and the
multifunction advanced datalink. The latter will allow the F-22 to
transmit data to other stealth aircraft.
USAF officials are now debating whether to upgrade the 63 Block 30
aircraft to the Block 35 standard. If the proposal is accepted, the USAF
would operate a fleet of 150 F-22s with identical capabilities.
But the Raptor fleet would still lack a number of features common to
most modern fighters, including an infrared search and track sensor for
passive targeting and a helmet-mounted cueing system to shoot at targets
beyond the field of view of the fighter's air-to-air missiles.
It is possible, however, that the USAF will add new capabilities to
the F-22 beyond the Increment 3.2 upgrades. One example is a distributed
aperture system now installed on the Lockheed Martin F-35, which
provides 360° optical coverage around the aircraft.
Wow.
Update 1:
"Me" is debating me on the merits of the F-22 vs. the F-15. Let me put this puppy to sleep. Service ceiling of the F-15---65,000 ft.
Service ceiling of the F-22---65,000 ft.
Max Speed of the F-15------Mach 2.5+
Max Speed of the F-22------Mach 2.2
The Mig-25 and its replacement Mig-31 can supposedly get up to 67,500 ft and top out at Mach 2.8...faster than a F-22 and since we don't know what the + equals on the F-15 how about we give those airplanes a tie?
"Nuff said.
