F-22 Pilots Told Not to Talk

One of the strangest things about this story to me is that the MSM is talking about it. Makes you wonder what the agenda for that would be.

Two F-22 Raptor pilots have said publicly that not only are they afraid to fly the most expensive fighter jets in American history, but the military has attempted to silence them and other F-22 pilots by threatening their careers.

Read the full story here:
news.yahoo.com...

Well look at what the cat dragged out. Hmm the worlds most sophisticated and expensive piece of war-fighting equipment, and then its pilot refuses to fly, making it essentially a tin can. Is this due to the oxygen system malfunction? There is something not right about the oxygen story. The life support system has been designed for over decades and refined and for them to get it wrong on the best fighter...does not make sense.

Like I said, one of the most interesting things about this to me in that there is a story AT ALL.

It does make you wonder what is going on with the jets for what they cost you would think they would work.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Government Accountability Office released a report that said the price tag for modernizing the aircraft has gone from $5.4 billion to $11.7 billion. The schedule for implementing all improvements has slipped seven years, from 2010 to 2017.The planes cost $143 million, according to the Air Force. Goverment estimates put the price at $412 million once the cost of research, development are upgrades are included.


articles.dailypress.com...

That sounds pretty standard of any military snip up though.

They screw up and they tell the people witness to it that if you go tell anyone, even your family, then we will pretty much crucify your character via military tribunal (probably throw you in the brig as well) and make you wish you had never enlisted in the first place.

Not saying its the "right thing to do" per se, but just sounds like SOP to me.

Gotta love the wonderul USA huh?

And you would expect them to work for that price-tag, but hey, the Military Industrial Complex gotta make money somehow right?

Stable door already open, horse bolted.

reply to post by jahn369

I'm having a hard time catching my breath..... I knew these were expensive, but... OMG.

Last week the Air Force officially received the last F-22 Raptor from defense contracting giant Lockheed Martin, completing an order of 187 planes that cost U.S. taxpayers an estimated $79 billion -- meaning that including research, development and production among other costs, each plane has a price tag of more than $420 million. Despite being the most advanced fighters on the planet, none of the planes have been used on a combat mission since they went combat-ready in late 2005. Critics told ABC News that's because the jet was designed to fight rival, sophisticated fighters – an enemy that doesn't exist right now.

(From OP link...Emphasis Mine)

(cough cough) (choking)...does that say 420 MILLION U.S. Dollars PER PLANE? For Air Superiority Fighters?? A billion a copy for a B-2 Bomber makes sense if that cost is what makes it invisible to the systems it has to be. A front line fighter?? At almost half a billion? I really hope we never face an enemy that can shoot down an American F-22. We'll have a legitimate reason for a day of mourning on the Airplane alone, after the Pilot ejects and gets back safely. It's enough to go Half Staff if we lose a Pilot as well!


Direct to OP though, I can't understand how this was talked about in the first place either. It can't possibly be what it looks like. These guys fly one of the most advanced planes on the Planet. Do we really think they aren't tracked very closely?? If for no other reason, than to make sure someone doesn't kidnap one of them as the chances for war increase. (A few nations would likely give a lot to know details of those planes). There also aren't that MANY of them.....so how do a couple pilots spill their guts to the media and not have their own security figure out who did it by the end of the day?

I've been kind of following the F-22's as well, as much as a non-fighter pilot can follow one of the most classified, high tech pieces of crap in our military. I remember, maybe a few months ago, reading about the oxygen generator issues, the whole fleet being grounded, then all of a sudden all planes were checked out good to go. Then, I actually saw a few of them flying around here in Hawaii. I found out later that Hawaii's Air National Guard got a few to play with. The Air National Guard. Has f-22 Raptors. At 420,000,000$ each. As a former marine, I mean no disrespect to any service member, or branch of the military, even the National Guard....

But C'mon! Why does the Hawaii Air National Guard need freaking F-22's? Seems a little over kill to me. But I'm just a ground pounder, what do I know?

Hawaii Air National Guard F-22's fly again

The entire fleet of "Raptors" was grounded in May after 12 reported incidents in which pilots experienced hypoxia-like symptoms. Hypoxia is when the body does not get enough oxygen. None of the reports involved Hawaii National Guard pilots. "It's been almost five months since the grounding took place. So to resolve that and get the aircraft back in the air and get them flying is a great moment," said Lt. Col. Chris Faurot, commander of the 199th Fighter Squadron.

The Air Force did not explain exactly what had changed to allow the fleet to return to the air, but in a statement, said each Raptor would have its life support systems inspected before it is allowed to fly.

Originally posted by THE_PROFESSIONAL
The life support system has been designed for over decades and refined and for them to get it wrong on the best fighter...does not make sense.

That's the first thing I thought too.

Can't they just pull one out of an F-18 or something?

I made a thread about this, one of the pilots died, and the air force is covering up what happened with the plane, still blaming the pilot for errors and not the plane for mechanical failure.. The family is suing Lockheed and Boeing in that case.

9 other confirmed issues with other pilots (that did not include death) and pilots are refusing to fly the plane...

here is the link to the thread on that.. www.abovetopsecret.com... Its a good subject because DOD spent so much and now they cant get a pilot in the cockpit hardly.. and rightly so.

This kinda reminds of Gus Grissom who also complained about safety...and was silenced.

This is what happens when the cheapest manufacture wins the contract.

reply to post by THE_PROFESSIONAL


This plane is 100% all fly-by-wire, right? What if they came up with a new UAV and it was just like the F-22 by design. Keep the plane and replace the pilot by a CPU. Cost effective, they're already built. Make up a cockamamie story about pilots not wanting to fly it due to safety issues. Put it out in the MSM and you have public approval. Then, *BAM* you have a whole new fleet of stealth UAV's.

reply to post by ZeroReady


Well obvious they gave it to the unit where a crash would be least noticed.

To test the planes without much negative publicity ($$$) better do it over sea, far away.

With the problems and the political pressure, accidents are not "allowed" ;-)

Unfortuntly for the pilots who are told to tame the raptor in those test stages and proberly not being told everything.

Oxygen problem eh. Sounds like a health and safety hazard. With that said, of course the military would not want to tarnish the reputation of F-22s because a lot has been invested in these planes. Heck! Even in Canada we got some F-22s recently that caused some commotion because of cost. Ultimately I can understand why the military would want to cover up an apparent issue with the craft (and maybe even resulting death(s) as an earlier post mentioned) but at the end of the day... the truth will surface.

Originally posted by THE_PROFESSIONAL
Well look at what the cat dragged out. Hmm the worlds most sophisticated and expensive piece of war-fighting equipment, and then its pilot refuses to fly, making it essentially a tin can. Is this due to the oxygen system malfunction? There is something not right about the oxygen story. The life support system has been designed for over decades and refined and for them to get it wrong on the best fighter...does not make sense.

I was a F-16 Crew-Chief. I know this system and many other systems on fighters very well. It blows my mind how they could have screwed this system up. It is not that complicated of a design. The following link is a simple pdf that shows a schematic of the system. As you will see, it is rather simple and the technology behind it is based on pure physics of converting liquid oxygen to a gaseous state for consumption. So, I agree. Something doesn't make sense......



Haha....I just noticed that the Aircraft in the pdf of the link above is my old Squadron Flagship from the 523rd Fighter Squadron at Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico. The 523rd doesn't exist anymore as Cannon has been converted to a "heavy" aircraft base on May 23rd 2007. We were know as the Crusaders and God's chosen. Below is an image of our squadron patch.

I can guess why this is, parts made in China? Assembled in Mexico?
2nd

Half a billion per plane, in just one of endless military projects, explains why the government no longer desires to spend money on it's citizens or public infrastructure. We cut into the nonsense MIC spending. Insane at best.

Well well... now people will understand why we in the armed forces call it the "craptor".

Finally some truth.

Critics told ABC News that's because the jet was designed to fight rival, sophisticated fighters – an enemy that doesn't exist right now.

(bold added)

To me, that is the most worrisome aspect of that article.

We all know that there will have to be "an enemy" manufactured at some point, just to justify the expense of these aircraft.

pathetic.