F-22 Raptor By Lockheed Martin

This blog is about the F-22 Raptor Fighter Aircraft developed by Lockheed Martin.

F-22 – Raptor is one of the best air dominance fighter in the world because of its unique combination of stealth, speed, agility and situational awareness. Carrying lethal long range- air to air and air to ground weapons, F22 is a single-seat, twin-engine which was developed for the United States Air Force (USAF). Lockheed Martine built most of the F-22’s air frame and weapon systems while Boeing manufactured the wings, aft fuselage, avionics integration and training systems.

F-22 Design:

F-22 is the first operational aircraft which has the capability to combine super cruise, super maneuverability, stealth and sensor fusion in a single weapon platform. Consisting of clipped delta wings which have a reverse sweep on the rear, four empennage surfaces and a retractable tricycle landing gear, this aircraft has all flight control surfaces which include leading and trailing-edge flaps, ailerons, rudders on the canted vertical stabilizer and horizontal tails to for stability and speed brakes purposes. Additionally, it consists of Pratt and Whitney F119- PW- 100 afterburning turbofan engines. Each engine produces thrust of 35,000 lbf. F -22 maximum speed without afterburner is Mach 1.82 and with afterburners it goes up to Mach 2. Moreover, it’s one of the few aircraft which can super-cruise without using an afterburner. This aircraft can fly at a higher altitude which makes it comparatively better than others. It uses internal weapon bays which helps it reduce the aerodynamic drag. F-22 is also made up of high-strength materials which help to withstand stress and heat of supersonic flight. Titanium alloys and composites comprise 39% and 24% of the aircraft’s structural weight. When it comes to maneuverability in supersonic and subsonic speeds, the F-22 has a sound reputation; it can perform high angles of attack maneuvers such as Herbst maneuver and Pugachev’s Cobra. Another important point to note is that this aircraft is very good at roll control.

Armaments:

The raptor consists of three internal weapon bays; it has a large weapon bay on the bottom of the fuselage and two smaller bays on the sides of the fuselage and aft of the engine intakes. The main bay can carry six LAU-142/A launchers for beyond visual range missiles. Each side bay has an LAU-141/A launcher for short- range missiles. Four of the launchers in the main bay can be replaced with two bomb racks which have the ability to carry 450 kg or four 110 kg bombs. F-22 can also carry air to surface weapons such as bombs with join Direct Attack and Munition (JDAM) guidance and the Small – Diameter Bomb. F-22 wings consist of four hard points; each hard-point can handle 2,300 kg. Each hard-point can carry a pylon which can accommodate 600 gallon (2,270 L) external fuel tank or air to air missiles.

Stealth:

F-22 was designed to be highly difficult to detect and track by radar. It has efficient air-frame shaping to reduce radar cross-section which includes alignment of edges, fixed-geometry serpentine inlets preventing line of sight of the engine faces from any exterior view, use of radar-absorbent material (RAM) and using hinges and pilot helmets for providing radar return. The aircraft is designed to emit lower radio emissions, infrared signature and acoustic nature. Special painting and active cooling of leading edges are done to reduce infrared signature and manage the heat buildup from supersonic flight.

F-22 raptor is one of the greatest inventions in the world; it is comparatively better than other fighter jets because of its high service ceiling, super cruise speed, maneuverability and stealth. It is continuously improving and upgrading which is yet another reason as to why it’s regarded better than other fighter jets.

(Sources used: LockheedMartin.com; HistoryinOrbit.com; FAS.org; AviationWeek.com; US Air Force, 2009)

Featured Image Credit: (Military.com Photo)