F-22 Raptor Wallpapers

F-22 Raptor Military aircraft, photo wallpapers; Megawallpapers.org : The F-22 Raptor is a highly maneuverable stealth fighter aircraft built by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics and Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. It was originally envisioned as an air superiority fighter, but is equipped for ground attack, electronic attack, and signals-intelligence roles as well. Long in development, the aircraft was also known as the prototype YF-22 and as the F/A-22 for three years before formally entering United States Air Force service in December 2005 as the F-22A. [br]Intended to be the leading United States advanced tactical fighter in the early part of the 21st century, the Raptor is certainly the most expensive fighter ever. As of April 2005 the total development and production cost of the program is at least $70 billion, and the number of planes to be built has dropped to 180, raising the cost per plane to several hundred million dollars each (Some say the estimate should be somewhat lower because some research and development support the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter as well.) The prototype YF-22 Lightning II, named after the Lockheed P-38 Lightning, won a fly-off competition against the Northrop/McDonnell-Douglas YF-23 for the Advanced Tactical Fighter contract. In April 1992, during flight testing after contract award, the first YF-22A prototype crashed while landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The test pilot, Tom Morgenfeld, was not injured and the cause of the crash was found to be pilot-induced oscillation. The name �Lightning II� persisted until the mid-1990s, and for a short while, the plane was also dubbed �Rapier�. The F-22 became the �Raptor� when the first production-representative plane was unveiled on April 9, 1997, at Lockheed-Georgia Co., Marietta, Georgia. First flight occurred on September 7. [br]In September 2002, Air Force leaders changed the Raptor�s designation to F/A-22. The new designation, which mimicked that of the Navy�s F/A-18 Hornet, was intended to highlight plans to give the Raptor a ground attack capability amid intense debate over the relevance of the pricy air-superiority jet. The first production F-22 was delivered to Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, on January 14, 2003. F-22 Dedicated Initial Operational Test and Evaluation occurred on October 27, 2004. As of late 2004, 51 Raptors were in service, with 22 more ordered under fiscal year 2004 funding. The first crash of a production F-22A occurred at Nellis Air Force Base on December 20, 2004, during takeoff. The pilot ejected safely moments before impact. As of April 2005, the accident was still under investigation; investigators are pointing to a software malfunction, rather than pilot error. USAF officials were planning to use the remains to make a new jet. [br]On 12 December 2005, USAF chief of staff Gen. Michael Moseley told an audience of senior Air National Guard leaders that the jet's designation would be changed again, to F-22A. The F-22A's entry into initial operational capability was announced December 15, 2005. The dual Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 turbofans with afterburners incorporate supercruise and thrust vectoring. Thrust vectoring is in the pitch axis only, with a range of �20 degrees. The maximum thrust is classified, though most sources place it at about 39,000 lbf (173 kN). Maximum speed is estimated to be Mach 1.72 in supercruise mode; with afterburners, �greater than Mach 2.0� (2,120 km/h), according to Lockheed Martin. The Raptor can easily exceed its design speed limits, particularly at low altitudes; max-speed alerts help prevent the pilot from exceeding the limits. Gen. John P. Jumper, U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff, flew the Raptor faster than Mach 1.7 without afterburners on January 13, 2005. The absence of variable intake ramps may make speeds greater than Mach 2.0 unreachable, but there is no evidence to prove this. Such ramps would be used to prevent engine �flame-out�, which is caused when too much air extinguishes the engine�s �pilot light�, but the intake itself may be designed to prevent such flame-outs. Former Lockheed Raptor chief test pilot Paul Metz says the Raptor has a fixed inlet. Paul Metz has also stated that the F-22 has a top speed greater than 1600 mph (Mach 2.42) and its climb rate is faster than the F-15 Eagle. This is due to the fact that the F-22 is one of the few western aircraft with a thrust to weight ratio significantly greater than 1:1. The true top speed of the F-22 is largely unknown, as engine power is only one factor. The ability of the airframe to withstand the stress and heat from friction is a key factor, especially in an aircraft using as many polymers as the F-22. However, while some aircraft are faster on paper, the F-22 is perhaps the only aircraft in the world capable of reaching its maximum performance speed with a full weapon's load. [br]Avionics include Raytheon and Northrop Grumman AN/APG-77 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar. [br]The first active sqadron to fly F-22A's will be the 27th Fighter Squadron. [br]Variants: Based on the F-22, the swing-wing NATF was proposed for the U.S. Navy to replace the F-14 Tomcat, though the program was subsequently cancelled in 1993. Another more recent proposal is the FB-22, which would be used as a deep strike bomber for the USAF. There has yet to be any word on whether the USAF plans further development of the program. The F-22 is claimed by many sources to be the world�s most effective air-superiority fighter; however, government secrecy makes comparisons with other aircraft difficult. Among its advantages are its sustained high speed*, thrust vectoring, sensors, stealth features, advanced avionics, and ability to exchange data with other U.S. systems. While making a complete assessment is impossible based on publicly available information, there is a study by the UK's DERA comparing the Eurofighter Typhoon to other contemporary fighters; in it, the F-22 significantly superseded all other types (including the Typhoon) in combat performance, although it should be noted that the unit cost of the F-22 is several times that of any other modern fighter aircraft. Maneuverability in real-world combat is hotly debated, with some experts claiming it is inferior to the Typhoon. It is not known whether USAF claims about Raptor�s superior maneuverability are accurate; many argue that, in any case, today�s beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles make maneuverability less important. In March 2005, USAF Chief of Staff General John P. Jumper, then the only person to have flown both the Typhoon and the Raptor, talked about these two aircraft. He said that "the Eurofighter is both agile and sophisticated, but is still difficult to compare to the F-22 Raptor". "They are different kinds of airplanes to start with," the general said. "It's like asking us to compare a NASCAR car with a Formula 1 car. They are both exciting in different ways, but they are designed for different levels of performance." Initially, its rising cost had forced the USAF to buy fewer F-22s than planned, and seemed likely to slow or curtail other programs, such as air-superiority unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAVs). But since the aircraft has become operational, and production normalized, costs have now gone down, whilst UCAV development and testing has proceeded at a rapid, unabated pace. The USAF is currently designing a new aircraft similar to the F-22, but it will cost a fraction of the price for mass production. [br]Specifications - F-22 Raptor: [br]Crew: 1 [br]Length: 62 ft 1 in (18.9 m) [br]Wingspan: 44 ft 6 in (13.6 m) [br]Height: 16 ft 8 in (5.1 m) [br]Wing area: 840 ft� (78.04 m�) [br]Empty: 31,670 lb (14 365 kg) [br]Loaded: 60,000 lb (27 216 kg) [br]Maximum takeoff: 80,000 lb (36 500 kg) [br]Powerplant: 2� Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 turbofans, 35,000+ lbf (156 kN) thrust each [br]Performance: [br]Maximum speed: Mach 2.0+ (1,300+ Knots) (USAF and Lockheed) 2.42+ (1,600+ MPH) (Paul Metz, chief test pilot) [br]Cruising Speed: Mach 1.5+ (USAF [7]), 1.72 (Lockheed [8]) [br]Range: about 2000 miles (3218 km) - (other estimates suggest up to 5000 - 6000 km, most likely using drop tanks) [br]Service ceiling: 65,000 ft (19 812 m) [br]Rate of climb: ft/min ( m/min) - presently not published [br]Wing loading: 96 lb/ft� (467 kg/m�) [br]Thrust/weight: 1.27. [br] [br] [br]

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