F-22 to enter full production.

MARIETTA, Ga.--- The Lockheed Martin F/A-22 Raptor fighter aircraft has been given the green light by Department of Defense acquisition officials to enter into full-rate production.

An acquisition decision information paper released by the Department of Defense on April 18 states "The Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics) [Michael W. Wynne] approved the full rate production capability of the F/A-22." This decision officially transitions the Air Force's premier fighter program to a new level of confidence and maturity.

"This is great news for warfighters whether they are soldiers on the ground or airmen guarding the skies," said Larry Lawson, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company executive vice president and general manager of the F/A-22 program.

"This decision reflects confidence in the performance of the aircraft demonstrated during an exhaustive Independent Operational Test & Evaluation program as well as the team's proven ability to produce the aircraft," Lawson added. "This is the culmination of a tremendous effort put forward by many in the Air Force as well as industry. The Raptor team understands the overwhelming capability the F/A-22 provides is vital today and must also be relevant for three to four decades to come."

This F/A-22 program milestone follows initial operational test findings in February and March by both the Air Force and the Department of Defense, which judged the aircraft to be "overwhelming effective" in its performance. Air Force pilots will be able to dominate any engagement with the Raptor. The F/A-22 will provide protection for troops no matter where they are, to an extent never before possible.

The F/A-22 Raptor, the world's most advanced fighter, is built by Lockheed Martin in partnership with Boeing and Pratt & Whitney. Parts and subsystems are provided by approximately 1,000 suppliers in 42 states. F/A-22 production takes place at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics facilities in Palmdale, Calif.; Meridian, Miss.; Marietta, Ga.; and Fort Worth, Texas, as well as at Boeing's plant in Seattle, Wash. Final assembly and initial flight testing of the Raptor occurs at the Marietta plant facilities.

The Raptor is slated to reach initial operational capability in December 2005 at Langley Air Force Base, Va. The F/A-22's balanced design of stealth, supercruise speed, supportability and super-agility, along with its advanced integrated avionics, will enable combat commanders to change the way future wars are fought.

Good to hear!

It would be foolish of the USG not to put this essential fighter in full rate production!

Cool, reminds me to call my pop and give him some congrats...

(works on the project at the Marietta plant).

It's about time though...guess they're done tweaking the parts of it that'll be in the production model.... They were trying all kinds of variants on it.

Nice, I cant wit to see more video of the Rapport in action as Langley AF Base will have a squadron at the end of this year.

The end of the current russian superiority over US planes has started.

This is good news for the US and good news for my 401K!

I live fairly close to Langley. I'll have to get down there and get some video when they go active. The site I work at does operations with all kinds of military aircraft. I'm sure soon after they get deployed to Langley we'll get to play with them. Can't wait.

Then again, if the US are only going to war with 3rd world countries like Iraq with MiG-21s as frontline fighters then there will be no use making 200 F-22s when even a F-16 can take on a MiG-21.

True that, but you never know who you may have to go up against. Remember, assumption is the mother of all screwups. Also, the F/A-22 is designed to be able to penetrate through enemy air defence systems due to its stealth abilities, things the F-15 could never do. And Russia is plenty happy to sell advanced air-defense systems to countries for a bargain.

[edit on 25-4-2005 by Broadsword20068]

Originally posted by tomcat ha
The end of the current russian superiority over US planes has started.

Russia never had superiority.......

Well Broadsword, I believe you are mistaken.

But i'm not going into this discussion again...

Anyway, long live the F-22, the baddest bird currently in the sky, can't wait till Russia comes with their competion, the T-55

Russia can produce good aircraft 'ill give you that, but it will take them some time to make one in par with the Raptor. And they also have to mass produce it they seem to have a problem doing that.

Originally posted by tomcat ha
The end of the current russian superiority over US planes has started.

It never started

Sure, they may have been a bit more manueverable, but the US fighters had a clear and decisive edge in all electronics which in this day and age is more important.

I agree with AMM. First look, first kill, that's what modern air warfare is all about. You can be as manueverable as you want, but if you see vampires before bogeys you're screwed.

Originally posted by American Mad Man

Originally posted by tomcat ha
The end of the current russian superiority over US planes has started.

It never started

Sure, they may have been a bit more manueverable, but the US fighters had a clear and decisive edge in all electronics which in this day and age is more important.

I'm trying not to discuss about this but I don't think I can help it now. The Su-30's radar (No-11 Zhuk, Chinese bought, not the latest version)can detect a F-15 at about 150km away, while a F-15 can detect a Su-30 at 250km away (rough estimate), but currently, a R-77M1 can be launched 175 km away from a target, and a AIM-120D can be launched 100km away from a target. This gives the Su-30 quite an advantage with a highly probable first shot capability.

However, like the title states, the F-22 is entering full scale production, and with its stealth abilities will be a challenge for the Russians to match in the near future.

Originally posted by GrOuNd_ZeRo
Well Broadsword, I believe you are mistaken.

But i'm not going into this discussion again...

Anyway, long live the F-22, the baddest bird currently in the sky, can't wait till Russia comes with their competion, the T-55

Ground_Zero,
I doubt that the T-55 is ever going to be competeing with the F-22! In the Soviet/Russian system "T" denote a TANK (EX: T-60, T-72, T-80). Sorry to say it, but I Think you have made mistake of your own. Russian fighters are usually designated MiG, SU (Sukoi (forgive my spelling))

Tim
ATS Director of Counter-Ignorance

T-55...Isn't the horrible Russian tank?

BTW, for now, the latest MiGs and Sukhois they have are the MiG-1.44 and Su-47 or S-37. All technology demostrators,sadly. Wait for the Pak-Fa to finish, which will probably be a while. And oh, the Pak-Fa is also known as the T-50 to some.

[edit on 26/4/05 by W4rl0rD]

Tahts what ground zero meant IMO when he said T-55..
He meant T-50..

Originally posted by W4rl0rD


I'm trying not to discuss about this but I don't think I can help it now. The Su-30's radar (No-11 Zhuk, Chinese bought, not the latest version)can detect a F-15 at about 150km away, while a F-15 can detect a Su-30 at 250km away (rough estimate), but currently, a R-77M1 can be launched 175 km away from a target, and a AIM-120D can be launched 100km away from a target. This gives the Su-30 quite an advantage with a highly probable first shot capability.

However, like the title states, the F-22 is entering full scale production, and with its stealth abilities will be a challenge for the Russians to match in the near future.

I had this AESA vs. N0-11 debate with this guy on ATS long ago..it ended in a stalemate..
BUt I agree with the above assessment of W4rlord..
Until the F-22 the Russians had superior avionics and manuverability as well..

But basically they win with the R-77, I didn't really take the time to check out the AESA, the AMRAAM and how much difference that these factors will make, but now that I did, seems to me that the R-77 makes the Su-30 a slightly better BVR fighter than the F-15 with AMRAAMs.

Originally posted by GrOuNd_ZeRo
Well Broadsword, I believe you are mistaken.

But i'm not going into this discussion again...

Anyway, long live the F-22, the baddest bird currently in the sky, can't wait till Russia comes with their competion, the T-55

What mistake did I make? Just correct me, if I think you're wrong, I'll argue with you obviously, if not, than I stand corrected.