Tango01 | 11 Dec 2018 12:11 p.m. PST |
""For the long term, given that the Air Force plans to fly the F-22 well into the 2060s, these weapons upgrades are engineered to build the technical foundation needed to help integrate a new generation of air-to-air missiles as they emerge in coming years." Made by Lockheed Martin and Boeing, the F-22 uses two Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 turbofan engines with afterburners and two-dimensional thrust vectoring nozzles, an Air Force statement said. It is 16-feet tall, 62-feet long and weighs 43,340 pounds. Its maximum take-off weight is 83,500. The Air Force and Lockheed Martin have now "validated" several new weapons on the F-22 Raptor to equip the stealth fighter with more long-range precision attack technology, a wider targeting envelope or "field of regard" and new networking technology enabling improved, real-time "collaborative targeting" between aircraft…." Main page link Amicalement Armand |
Ghostrunner | 11 Dec 2018 12:18 p.m. PST |
Incredible plane… But I'm not sure how they are going to get that kind of service life out of <200 airframes. |
15mm and 28mm Fanatik | 11 Dec 2018 4:05 p.m. PST |
Mid-life upgrades and airframe life extensions just like what many '70's-era Eagles and Vipers gone through. |
pikeman666 | 11 Dec 2018 6:05 p.m. PST |
This is a very optimistic projection. I came across an article that claimed Lockheed Martin had lost key pieces of tooling that are critical for production of spare airframe components. Unless these are located or replaced, the F-22 is a dead duck. |
Ghostrunner | 11 Dec 2018 6:10 p.m. PST |
~1600 Eagles >4000 Falcons Not all in USAF service, but figure 75% plus (?) There is so much infrastructure to support these they make good sense to keep in service. About 700 F-14s got built and they barely made 40 years. |
Thresher01 | 11 Dec 2018 8:29 p.m. PST |
How convenient that they "lost" them, so we'll have to buy more planes, that no doubt will be vastly more expensive. Sounds like the CEO, Board of Directors, and other Execs for Lockheed should be brought up on charges and imprisoned for "gross incompetence" and fraud. |
NavyVet | 11 Dec 2018 9:00 p.m. PST |
For the F14's life onboard a carrier was much rougher than their Air Force contemporaries. Iran is still flying their F14's after all these years of no support from the USA. |
15mm and 28mm Fanatik | 11 Dec 2018 9:54 p.m. PST |
Many surplus F-15's and F-16's were retired due to squadron deactivations and defense cutbacks (peace dividend) in the '90's as the Cold War ended. The decision to retire the Turkey was due to high maintenance requirements, preference of the Navy for the F-18E and the belief that it's becoming obsolete, not because we couldn't extend the F-14's lifespan had we wanted to. |
Thresher01 | 11 Dec 2018 10:15 p.m. PST |
The USN's F-14 tempo was no doubt a lot higher than that of Iran's Tomcats, and they've apparently received a lot of help from the Soviets/Russians, and perhaps others too. |
Lion in the Stars | 12 Dec 2018 12:40 p.m. PST |
"Lost"? More like, "were not allowed to continue writing off the cost of tooling for aircraft not in production" just like what happened with the A-10 |
15mm and 28mm Fanatik | 12 Dec 2018 1:48 p.m. PST |
Couldn't LockMart have kept the tooling of the F-22 just in case they might be needed in the future rather than destroying them? |
Thresher01 | 12 Dec 2018 11:24 p.m. PST |
No, 28mm, since that cuts into future profits and sales of far more expensive aircraft. |
Lion in the Stars | 13 Dec 2018 10:49 a.m. PST |
And tie up space for spare parts or F35s? |