F-22A goes operational

[Elie]

Do we need more guns and fighter planes into this world? temporarily afterwards..

Sure we do!!!! bring em on!!!

We want to live in peace, but those nasty b@stards call terrarits and the ANTI North America, type, can only learn the HARD way if you know what I'm sayin!!!!

[Nowhere]

OK, but...why one needs F-22 against them anyway? (BTW, I suppose F-15 now goes bye, bye?)

[Dr Mordrid]

Yes, the F-22 is an all-weather tactical fighter/bomber and is geared to replace the F-15, which will have had a run of almost 40 years by the time it retires. Not a bad run, but they are aging and outdated in many areas including their lack of stealth. F-22 is very, VERY stealthy.

The F-16's replacement will be the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which will also come in versions geared to replace the AV8B Harrier "jump jet" (Marines) and the FA-18 Hornet (carriers). It too is very stealthy but an added advantage is that it was designed from the get-go to be much less expensive to buy and maintain than its predecessors.

Dr. Mordrid

[GT98]

Some Military and Political types where questioning why we needed the F-22 and its expense since the F-15 is such a great fighter. In a demonstration, five F-15C piloted by F-22 test pilots went up against a F-22 Prototype and the F-22 Splashed all five F-15 without them even getting a chance to see the F-22! Its that impressive of a fighter.

[J1NG]

Five? I read it was eight? In any event, a near white wash...

Yeah, the best story I heard was one of the pilots never even knew where the F-22 was until it flew right over him (visually id'ing him). Nice.

J1NG

[Dr Mordrid]

And the F-22 doesn't even need to get close to hammer other aircraft.

You not only can't see it on radar but it can see you through passive emissions then engage multiple targets from 100 miles away using the AIM-120 Extended Range Air to Air Missile.

Even if the F-22 does use its radar it's still a tough target: its radar transmits waveforms that change from burst to burst while it simultaneously varies their frequency randomly. This system is known as the APG-77 and is based on an active electronically scanned array (AESA). Forget locking onto its radar

The F-22's AESA can detect another planes radar from 460 miles, acquire it at up to 125 miles and engage at up to 100 miles. Most times the target won't even know it's in trouble until it's hit. Even more impressive is that the AESA can simultaneously obtain electronics intelligence, jam enemy electronics, do surveillance and provide secure voice and datalink comms in different directions.

The things a freakin' nightmare.

Dr. Mordrid