Senate Panel Allows A-10 Cuts, But Not F-22s | Air & Space Forces Magazine
The Senate Armed Services Committee released its version of the 2023 NDAA, with changes proposed to the Air Force fleet.www.airforcemag.com
We'll see how this plays out. If those 33 Block 20 F-22s are to be retained, then I think the USAF really needs to look at how to resolve the maintenance issues with the 325th FW.
House Moves to Upgrade, Not Retire, Oldest F-22s | Air & Space Forces Magazine
The House Armed Services Committee included language in its 2023 NDAA to prevent the Air Force from retiring any F-22s.www.airforcemag.com
"The Air Force’s plans to divest its oldest 33 F-22 Raptor fighters met with a sharp rebuke from the House Armed Services Committee, which moved instead to mandate the Air Force maintain the full Raptor fleet and upgrade the older planes to the newest configuration in its version of the 2023 National Defense Authorization bill."
Surely they had a contract on spares support?Looks like the NGAD cannot come soon enough if the USAF cannot source spares from Lockheed for the F-22.
Depends on the type of spare. If nothing else they can use the 30 they're deactivating for parts cannibalization.Surely they had a contract on spares support?Looks like the NGAD cannot come soon enough if the USAF cannot source spares from Lockheed for the F-22.
Well they can’t now, but I’m sure that was the plan. I’d honestly be a little surprised if all of the blk20s got updated this decade from what the parts situation looks like. 17 B-1s were retired for the same reason - to take the worst cases off the books and canibalize them for the health of the rest.Depends on the type of spare. If nothing else they can use the 30 they're deactivating for parts cannibalization.Surely they had a contract on spares support?Looks like the NGAD cannot come soon enough if the USAF cannot source spares from Lockheed for the F-22.
Many of the subcontractors and underlying production simply don’t exist. It was a limited run of a fighter that wasn’t exported, unlike the F-teen series.Surely they had a contract on spares support?Looks like the NGAD cannot come soon enough if the USAF cannot source spares from Lockheed for the F-22.
Why can't they?Well they can’t now, but I’m sure that was the plan. I’d honestly be a little surprised if all of the blk20s got updated this decade from what the parts situation looks like. 17 B-1s were retired for the same reason - to take the worst cases off the books and canibalize them for the health of the rest.Depends on the type of spare. If nothing else they can use the 30 they're deactivating for parts cannibalization.Surely they had a contract on spares support?Looks like the NGAD cannot come soon enough if the USAF cannot source spares from Lockheed for the F-22.
can't they?
Of course, we're now discovering that as the Block 30/35 fleet have undergone the software OFP and Increments over the years, the gap between them and the Block 20 airframes have widened to the point that pilots from the B-course end up having to un-learn and re-learn certain aspects on the 30/35 with their units. That said, I think Lockheed Martin actually proposed to upgrade those Block 20 aircraft to 30/35 standards back in 2016 at the same time that the production restart was being investigated, but nothing came out of that. In hindsight, perhaps that is what should have been done.
The big headline for R1 is that it prepares the Raptor for JATM – the secretive new AIM-260 Joint Air Tactical Missile, designed to give U.S. fighters a new edge in air combat. “We are in the middle of getting ready for live-fire tests this summer, part of a huge joint test effort between the operational testers at Nellis, and the developmental testers at Edwards AFB, California. The JATM program is completely dependent on RACR-standard, and the F-22 needs R1 and R2 – to an extent – to shoot JATM. That’s everything from integrating the missile into our software, the indications we see in the cockpit, the information we can share with the missile, and the way we interact with the missile from a targeting perspective. There’s a lot of new technology in JATM that is much more advanced than our current [AIM-120 AMRAAM] missile’s technology.”
Highlighting their IRST solution, confirmed to be a stealthy pod.F-22 Raptor Being Readied For AIM-260 Missile By 'Green Bats' Testers
Inside Nellis Week: The 'Green Bats' improve the USAF's fighter fleet, including making sure the F-22 stays on top for years to come.www.thedrive.com
The F-22 is also getting an Infra-Red Search and Track (IRST), which is a passive sensor that can track targets at long ranges. IRST is a notable omission from the jet’s current arsenal. “It’s going to be a podded solution,” explains Autrey. “The IRST is a way to get out of the RF [radio-frequency spectrum] fight; it’s another means to a single-ship kill-chain, and it’s got a lot of attention. The technology in the IRST is very impressive. The IR kill-chain we’ve demonstrated in the Department of Defense is extremely hard to get right, and we are putting a lot of time and attention into ensuring the pod is value added to the warfighter.” The War Zone recently revealed images of an F-22 flying with the pods during testing. “The pods are going to be configured to ensure the F-22 retains its stealth capability,” Autrey confirms.
Didn’t the Raptor have room for an Irst they never built?
Yes, but a months ago in a previous War Zone article it was explained that spaces once envisioned for the cheek arrays and IRST system are already occupied.Didn’t the Raptor have room for an Irst they never built?
Highlighting their IRST solution, confirmed to be a stealthy pod.F-22 Raptor Being Readied For AIM-260 Missile By 'Green Bats' Testers
Inside Nellis Week: The 'Green Bats' improve the USAF's fighter fleet, including making sure the F-22 stays on top for years to come.www.thedrive.com
The F-22 is also getting an Infra-Red Search and Track (IRST), which is a passive sensor that can track targets at long ranges. IRST is a notable omission from the jet’s current arsenal. “It’s going to be a podded solution,” explains Autrey. “The IRST is a way to get out of the RF [radio-frequency spectrum] fight; it’s another means to a single-ship kill-chain, and it’s got a lot of attention. The technology in the IRST is very impressive. The IR kill-chain we’ve demonstrated in the Department of Defense is extremely hard to get right, and we are putting a lot of time and attention into ensuring the pod is value added to the warfighter.” The War Zone recently revealed images of an F-22 flying with the pods during testing. “The pods are going to be configured to ensure the F-22 retains its stealth capability,” Autrey confirms.
Might be that the pod has gateway functions(would mean that it has parts of Freedom radio in it) like Talon Hate, connecting with MADL perhaps.although it's likely the pods will serve additional functions, likely CNI and EW.
On Aug. 24, members of the Air Combat Command Federal Laboratory, test pilots at Edwards Air Force Base, and software developers from the 309th Software Engineering Group achieved several milestones on an F-22 Raptor in-flight: the first instance of third-party software running on a fifth-generation fighter, and the first in-flight use of open-source container orchestration software on any fighter aircraft.
Fifth-generation fighter aircraft are historically unavailable to third-party software integration. To fix this problem and lower the barriers to entry, the team built and flight-tested their new Open Systems Enclave (OSE) consisting of a government-owned software architecture with existing on-board hardware. This new enclave proved it can rapidly integrate new technologies from first line of code to flight in less than 60 days. In recognition of this value proposition, there is now a formal requirement for the establishment of OSE on F-22 at the direction of the Chief, F-22 Requirements.
https://www.airforcemag.com/PDF/MagazineArchive/Documents/1997/July 1997/0797raptor.pdf unveiled two days after my sister was born. Also I still love the EMD scheme
I cannot believe that it has been 25 years of the F-22 Raptor.
Good chance I bought that magazine just for that articlehttps://www.airforcemag.com/PDF/MagazineArchive/Documents/1997/July 1997/0797raptor.pdf unveiled two days after my sister was born. Also I still love the EMD scheme
I cannot believe that it has been 25 years of the F-22 Raptor.
I cannot believe that it has been 25 years of the F-22 Raptor.
I cannot believe that it has been 25 years of the F-22 Raptor.