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Product Type: |
5th Generation Air Dominance Fighter |
Using Service (US): |
Air Force (USAF) |
Program Status: |
In Service - No new aircraft planned. |
Prime Contractors: |
Lockheed Martin Corporation
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The Lockheed Martin/Boeing
F-22 Raptor is a twin-engine single-seat air dominance fighter. It is a first-of-a-kind multi-mission fighter aircraft that combines stealth,
supercruise, advanced maneuverability, and integrated avionics to make it the world's most capable combat aircraft.
The Raptor is a fifth generation fighter aircraft and is designed to penetrate enemy airspace and achieve
a first-look, first-kill capability against multiple targets. The F-22 has unprecedented survivability and lethality,
ensuring the joint forces have freedom from attack, freedom to maneuver, and freedom to attack.
The U.S. Government has prohibited the sale of F-22 aircraft to any foreign nation.
The F-22 is powered by two Pratt & Whitney
F119-PW-100 afterburning turbofan engines, each providing 35,000 pounds of thrust.
Supercruise (the ability to operate at supersonic speed without afterburning) gives the aircraft exceptional combat performance without
compromising mission range. The aircraft's Northrop Grumman
AN/APG-77 radar system is able to detect enemy aircraft radar at distances
of up to 285 miles (460 km). The AN/APG-77 system itself exhibits a very low radar cross section.
The F-22's avionics package also includes the BAE Systems AN/ALR-94 radar warning receiver (RWR),
the Lockheed Martin
AN/AAR-56 missile approach warning system, and BAE Systems AN/ALE-52 countermeasures dispenser.
The cockpit features six full colour multifunction displays, including the 8x8" primary display from Kaiser Electronics
(now Rockwell Collins).
A BAE Systems head-up display (HUD) provides target status, weapon status, and weapon envelopes data and shoot cues.
Also, a video camera records data for the HUD for post-mission analysis.
The F-22 is equipped with the ACES II ejection seat system manufactured by Goodrich (now United Technologies).
Goodrich also supplied the aircraft's landing gear.
In the production of the F-22, Lockheed Martin
was responsible for program management, the integrated forebody (nose section)
and forward fuselage (including the cockpit and inlets); the center fuselage; the leading edges of the wings; fins and stabilators;
flaps; ailerons; landing gear; stores management; integrated navigation and electronic warfare systems;
communications, navigation, and identification systems; the weapon support system; and final assembly of the aircraft.
At its facilities in Seattle, Washington, Boeing built the wings and aft fuselage
and was responsible for avionics integration, 70% of mission software, the training system, and life-support and fire-protection systems.
The F-22 is mainly made of titanium alloys and composites. Radar absorbent materials are used to reduce the aircraft's radar
signature. Also, the shape of the F-22 makes it more difficult to detect on radar.
The F-22's structural weight is comprised of 39% titanium alloys (highest in any U.S. aircraft design since the SR-71A),
24% composites, 16% aluminium alloys, and 1% thermoplastics - with other materials making up the remaining 20%.
The wings are made of 42% titanium, 35% composites, and 23% aluminium and other materials (by structural weight).
The Advanced Tactical Fighter program (which would eventually bring about the F-22) entered the demonstration and validation
phase in 1986. The prototype aircraft YF-22 and YF-23 completed their first flights in 1990 and the YF-22 was later selected
as the best design. Engineering and manufacturing development efforts began in 1991 with contracts awarded to
Lockheed Martin
and Boeing
for the airframe and Pratt & Whitney for the engines.
Flight testing began in 1997 (first flight on September 7, 1997) and in 2001, the F-22 program was
approved for low-rate initial production. Initial operational and test evaluation was completed in 2004 and the following year,
the program went into full-rate production. The F-22 achieved initial operational capability in December 2005.
In December 2011, the 187th and final production F-22 Raptor came off the production line at
Lockheed Martin's
facility in Marietta, Georgia and was delivered to the Air Force on May 2, 2012.
With the final aircraft complete, the F-22 production line will be shut down.
Including flight test and initial production aircraft, a grand total of 195 F-22s have been built.
The F-22 program has struggled with an issue in the pilot oxygen supply system, which has been blamed for a series of incidents
in which pilots struggled to breath and experienced dizziness and blackouts. In the worst incident, Air Force pilot Capt. Jeff Haney lost his life
on November 16, 2010, when his F-22 crashed near Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska.
To fix these problems, the Air Force is installing new valves on the pilot life-support system.
Lockheed Martin is currently under contract to modernize the F-22, which includes the development of system upgrades,
additional capabilities and performance enhancements. The contract ceiling is $6.9 billion and covers work until February 2023.
The F-22 is equipped with a General Dynamics M61-A2 Vulcan 20mm six-barreled gatling gun and has four under-wing hardpoints and three internal weapons bays. The aircraft carries AIM-9M/X Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, GBU-32 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM), and GBU-39/40 Small Diameter Bombs. For more detail, see specifications below.
The F-22 is no longer in production. In 2007, the unit cost of the F-22A was $136.2 million ($148.7 million flyaway cost or $179.7 million incl. support costs). The airframe costs $87.74 million, the F119-PW-100 engine costs $10.03 million, and the avionics cost $28.36 million.
The F-22 will provide an enhanced U.S. air superiority capability against projected threats and will eventually replace the F-15 Eagle.
Supports procurement of equipment associated with setting up operational locations and other support required to deliver new aircraft and funds shutdown activities, preserving assets for long-term F-22 fleet sustainment. Continues critical F-22 modernization through incremental capability upgrades and key reliability and maintainability efforts. Continues retrofit of Increment 3.1 into the combat-coded F-22 fleet. Increment 3.1 provides an initial ground attack kill chain capability via inclusion of emitter-based geo-location of threat systems, ground-looking synthetic aperture radar (SAR) modes, electronic attack capability, and initial integration of the GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb (SDB-I), which expands the F-22's ground attack arsenal from one Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) to four SDB-Is per payload. Continues development of Increment 3.2, providing AIM-120D and AIM-9X integration, radar electronic protection, enhanced speed and accuracy of target geo-location, Link-16 track fusion, Automatic Ground-Collision Avoidance System, and other enhancements to improve system safety and effectiveness.
Continues critical F-22 modernization through incremental capability upgrades and key reliability and maintainability efforts. Continues retrofit of Increment 3.1 into the combat-coded F-22 fleet. Continues development of Increment 3.2, providing AIM-120D and AIM-9X integration, radar electronic protection, enhanced speed and accuracy of target geo-location, intraflight data link improvements, Automatic Ground-Collision Avoidance System, and other enhancements to improve system safety and effectiveness. For more information, click to see the FY 2013 DoD F-22 Budget.
Sources: U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), Lockheed Martin Corp.,
The Boeing Company, BAE Systems, Pratt & Whitney, and Northrop Grumman.
Last Update: March 11, 2013.
By Joakim Kasper Oestergaard /// (jkasper@bga-aeroweb.com)
Lockheed Martin: F-22 Raptor
Northrop Grumman: AN/APG-77 Radar
Lockheed Martin: AN/AAR-56 MLD
Goodrich: ACES II(R) Ejection Seat System
General Dynamics: M61-A2 20mm Vulcan Gatling Gun
YouTube: F-22 Raptor | YouTube Videos
Fact Sheet: Lockheed Martin | F-22 Fact Sheet
Product Card: Lockheed Martin | Raptor Product Card
F-22A U.S. Defense Budget Charts: |
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| Purchases of F-22 Aircraft (USAF) | Modification of F-22 Aircraft (USAF) | Spares and Repair Parts (USAF) |
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Primary Function: Air dominance multi-role fighter |
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