US rolls out most expensive jet

[Snauman]

:eek

The first of a fleet of the world's most expensive fighter jet, the FA-22 Raptor, is being commissioned into the United States Air Force.
The US military has ordered 277 planes, the first of which was due to roll out onto the tarmac at its manufacturing base in Georgia on Wednesday.

It is to join a fighter squadron based close to the capital, Washington DC.

The FA-22 stealth fighter can fly at 1500 km/h and still remain undetected by radar.

It fires precisely targeted smart bombs and can engage hostile aircraft far beyond the pilot's vision.

That is the impressive part of the story.

Irrelevant?

The other part is that, at a cost of about $260m (£142m) each, the Raptor is designed to fight a potential Soviet enemy that no longer exists, and a Third World War that - if it ever happens - will be very different from what could have been imagined in 1981.

Some years ago there was a serious attempt in the Congress to scrap the whole project, especially as the revised cost exceeded four times the original estimate.

It failed largely because of pressure from military contractors and labour unions in states that will directly benefit from this multi-billion dollar programme.

The introduction of the new fighter jet comes in the same week that its manufacturer, Lockheed-Martin, announced a 40% rise in profits as it processes orders for its next generation of fighter aircraft, the F-35.





http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3959673.stm

 

[gf0012-aust]

There needs to be some clarification made here. This is the first purely operational jet.

The official price per unit is dropping - something that seems to be increasingly difficult for "dense" journalists to absorb. :help

There are already 40 commissioned.

Marietta Daily Journal: F/A-22 Takes Big Step Today
[Marietta Daily Journal, Oct. 27, 2004]

By Ross Willis
MDJ Business Editor

MARIETTA - Today, "Raptor 4041" rolls off the production line at Lockheed Martin Marietta.

Raptor 4041 is the first operation-ready F/A-22 Raptor fighter aircraft scheduled for delivery to the U.S. Air Force 1st Fighter Wing's 27th Fighter Squadron at Langley Air Force Base, Va.

With $3.6 billion approved in the federal defense appropriations for the current 2005 fiscal year, and at about $130 million apiece, every milestone in the development of this historic fighter is cause for celebration - for both Air Force and Lockheed Martin officials.

Col. Frank Gorenc, U.S. Air Force 1st Fighter Wing Commander, will be on hand with staff from Langley to join Lockheed Martin officials for the rollout.

A second generation stealth fighter, the F/A-22 is the most technically advanced fighter ever built, fully capable of maintaining U.S. dominance in the world's skies through the first half of this century, according to Lockheed officials.

The first 40 Raptors built were sent for testing to Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., for tactical development to Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas and for training programs at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla.

Prior to its flight to Langley next spring, the Raptor with tail number 4041 will undergo a series of post-production modifications suggested by research at Edwards, Nellis and Tyndall, application of the "low observable" coatings for which stealth aircraft are known, and acceptance flights by both Lockheed Martin and U.S. Air Force pilots, according to Lockheed Martin spokesman Rob Fuller.

The military's purchase plans for the F/A-22 include 276 Raptors and extends through 2013.

In addition:

/external source on

All the "test" planes are at Edwards AFB and will continue testing of new technologies into/onto the aircraft as they become available and expand the envelope (especially when outboard stores and the A2G testing starts at an accelerated rate).

The Nellis Raptors are very important in that they will develop the lethal tactics by USAF Weapons School experts that will be used by all Raptor pilots and will continue to be further refined. Developing tactics for a plane that has stealth, supercruise, unmatched maneuverability/agility, and intergrated avionics will be challenging and definately will take a lot of time.

The Tyndall Raptors will become the training center for all initial Raptor pilots and maintainers. Tyndall Raptors are also special in that they are all combat capable planes, meaning they all will have the software and hardware necessary to go to war just like the "Operational" squadrons at a moments notice. All of this VERY important.

Today, there are a total of 8 flying test planes, Raptors 2-9 and 2 non-flyable static test airframes that tests fatigue. There was actually suppose to be 2 two-seat test Raptors built, but two-seaters wasn't deemed neccessary and thus cut from production orders and to save some money at the time. These 8 airframes are solely developed for testing purposes. They are not built with full combat capability in mind nor ever were. Each test plane built specifically for a test purpose. And, this amount of planes were mandated every since the end of the EMD portion of the ATF competion; no more, no less. So the amount of planes for testing isn't a lot actually, but enough. What you are probably thinking of was early in the flight test program where the F/A-22 Raptor CTF was having troubles reaching the 184+ test hours by November 1998. Then, only 2 Raptors, 1 & 2 were built and available. Raptor 1 had technical difficulties and Raptor 2 (nicknamed "Old Reliable") took it upon itself to reach the Congressional goal of 184+ hours by Nov 98. Now that ALL test Raptors are in place, that is why the Edwards and IOT&E Nellis test F/A-22s has now reached 7,000+hrs of total flight test time since September 1997 (And all without a Class A mishap, which is an incredible accomplishment).

Nellis and Tyndall have not received all their Raptors. When they do and are all up and running, they combined with the efforts of Edward's Raptors all are aimed to achieve one goal: to get the F/A-22 Raptor operational and operate at maximun efficiency and effectiveness of the weapon system as soon as possible.

/external source off

Why in gods name journalists are unable to grasp the simplest of concepts and report things factually is absolutely despairing. :mad

 

[mysterious]

Yeah, when I read this news on BBC, I was like wtf?!?!? 'Cuz I've known the existance of Raptors already commissioned. I guess this was just a nice big juicy ceremony to showcase its launch.

 

[quicksilver]

I think that the raptor will be a great addtion to the us airforce it is well worth its high price

 

[redsoulja]

they don't really need this jet in my opinion, they could have waited a few years and skipped a technological generation, there is no country in the world that can match american air power in any way, if they waited and developed it further and developed UAVs they wouldn't have to make this generation and leapfrog into the next generation.

ps its not a matter of it being worth the money in technical terms, its a metter of requirement and feasibility