<p>The F-22 Rapier is the USAF's choice as its ATF (Advanced Tactical Fighter) and replacement for the F-15 Eagle. The F-22 meets a USAF requirement for long-range cruise at supersonic speeds without afterburning and makes use of low-observables (LO), or stealth, to defeat advanced radar defense systems.
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<p>The F-22 also uses thrust vectoring to maneuver at high angles of attack (AOA) in air-to-air combat. Two-dimensional engine nozzles can be vectored 20 per cent up or down at any power setting. Coupled with large leading-edge wing flaps and overall low wing loading, the nozzles permit maneuver at low speeds and high flight angles.
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<p>The short, angular F-22 has a comparatively large, diamond-shaped wing, splayed twin vertical tails, and large horizontal tails. The wing is, in fact, very nearly a delta, with 48 of sweep on the leading edge, a nearly straight trailing edge, and a very small tip chord. The wing blends into the fuselage to provide a lifting body area. Engine air intakes sit astride a short, tapered nose which houses the cockpit and most of the avionics. The inlet ducts curve inward and upward, shielding the front faces of the engine from direct illumination by radar. Radar-absorbent materials are employed in the forward fuselage and cockpit canopy.
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<p>The F-22 pilot sits upright on a zero-zero ACES II (Advanced Concept Ejection Seat) beneath an unbroken bubble-style canopy, and has a panel of liquid-crystal color displays and HUD (head-up display). Extensive use is made of VHSIC (Very High Speed Integrated Circuits), common modules and high-speed data-buses. The avionics suite makes use of voice command/control, VHSIC 1750 computer, shared antennas, advanced data fusion/cockpit displays, INEWS (Integrated Electronic Warfare System), ICNIA (Integrated Communications, Navigation, Identification Avionics) and fiber optics data transmission.
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<p>The F-22 Rapier is intended to cruise at supersonic speed to a high-risk area and engage opposing aircraft BVR (beyond visual range) but, if necessary, to outmaneuver them at closer range. Details have not been released concerning the radar which will be crucial to the F-22 in BVR engagements, and a decision had not been made as to the type of cannon to be mounted internally in production F-22s for closer-in combat. The F-22's underside has a weapons bay with serrated edges, for AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles. The aircraft also has side-mounted weapons bays just aft of the engine inlets for AIM-9M Sidewinders.
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<p>Powerplant for the twin-engined F-22 is the Pratt & Whitney YF119, which is expected to have a thrust rating in the area of 30,000 lb (13,607 kg).
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<p>The F-22 emerged from the free-spending Reagan years (1981-89) when the USAF saw an eventual need for an F-15 replacement to operate in the European theater. In 1984, the USAF formalized a requirement for a fighter capable of supersonic flight without afterburning, with a greater range than the F-15, and with vectoring and reversing engine nozzles for STOL performance.
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<p>An early decision was made to select the new ATF using a dem/val (demonstration/evaluation) process recommended by the 1986 Packard Commission: contractors would design and build candidate aircraft prototypes and would be told in general terms what was needed, then given wide latitude to devise solutions. Aircraft manufacturers would perform R&D (research and development) at their own expense. Engine manufacturers would compete similarly. There would not be a 'fly-off' competition: the ATF flight-test phase would be a wide-open, innovative setting which allowed builders to demonstrate what their aircraft could do.
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<p>Lockheed YF-22A and Northrop YF-23A candidates were developed for this ATF contest, initially in a 'black' program accessible only to those with appropriate security clearances. Boeing and General Dynamics were in partnership with Lockheed and the former's company-owned Boeing 757 was modified to become an avionics flying laboratory for the F-22 program.
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<p>The prototype YF-22A (87-3997/N22YF), powered by General Electric YF120 engines, made its first flight on 29 September 1990. The second YF-22A (87-3998/N22YX), powered by P&W YF119 engines, followed suit on 30 October 1990. The competing Northrop YF-23 also flew in both GE- and P&W-powered examples. Though the YF-23 flew earlier, the team headed by Lockheed decided to demonstrate its YF-22 prototypes more exhaustively than did Northrop. The two YF-22s flew 74 flights and 91.6 hours and made live firings of AIM-9 and AIM-120 missiles as well as single-engine landings, none of which were performed by the Northrop aircraft.
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<p>On 23 April 1991, the USAF announced its choice of the F-22 for the ATF production contract. The decision on the P&W engine came soon after. In September 1991, the USAF acknowledged that the F-22 will miss its weight goal by 10,000 lb (4,536 kg) and will weigh 20 per cent more than the target weight of 50,000 lb (22,680 kg). A Martin-Marietta infra-red search-and-track system (IRST) for the F-22 was postponed due mainly to cost considerations.
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<p>Flight testing of the PW-powered YF-22 prototype resumed on 30 October 1991 at Edwards AFB, California. The prototype was scheduled to fly extensively in 1991-92 to gather aerodynamic loads data, flight control aerodynamic effects data, vibration/acoustic noise data, and maximum coefficient of lift data. In April 1992, however, the second aircraft suffered severe oscillations during a low pass and crashed on the runway. Lockheed pilot Tom Morgenfeld escaped, and the company had already acquired sufficient data to allow the completion of the design.
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<p>FSD (full-scale development) work will be carried out over 1992-96. In the FSD F-22 program, the manufacturers will produce nine single-seat F-22A aircraft, two two-seat F-22B aircraft and two ground test vehicles, for a total of 13 F-22s.
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<p>The USAF had planned originally to order 750 Advanced Tactical Fighters, with production beginning in 1994. Following the spring 1990 Major Aircraft Review (MAR), production was rescheduled to begin in 1996, saving $1.26 billion, for a total of 650 aircraft with maximum production rate of 72 planes per year in 1999 being changed to 48 per year in 2001. Further revisions in the extent of the production program cannot be ruled out, though, especially in view of the major defense cut-backs that have occurred following the end of the Cold War.
