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<i>I'm very confused about the actions of the Air Force leadership. Basically, they seem to be saying the F-22 is working very well, so let's not build them economically. Let's slow down production. Huh? Maybe we should wait for a system that doesn't work, and build that at maximum rate, so we waste money faster. Yeah, that's the ticket.</i>
<b>Lockheed Martin's Raptor Undergoes IOC And A Name Change</b> (Posted: Thursday, December 15, 2005)
[Defense Daily, Dec. 15, 2005]
By Geoff Fein
The 27th Fighter Squadron First Fighter Wing at Langley AFB, Va., is expected today to declare initial operational capability (IOC) for its Lockheed Martin [LMT] F-22 Raptors.
Additionally, the Air Force changed the designation of the F/A-22 to F-22. The F/A is not an Air Force bit of nomenclature, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley told reporters at a briefing Tuesday.
"We have F for fighters. In a sense of heritage to horizon, this airplane bridges that heritage to the horizon. We had F-111s that do multi-task; we had F-4s that did multi- task; we have F-16s that do multi-task; and this airplane, an F-22A, is just that," he said. "It does air-to-ground, it does air-to-air, but it is in the lineage of Air Force fighters, an F. We've decided on an A model to make it very clear to everyone that we are fielding, we are holding this program fixed and we are holding the cost of this program fixed, and our desire is to field the A model and be able to get the A model into the field and be able to get the A model into the combatant commander's portfolio as soon as we can."
"You can take this a bit to an extreme about the F/A, because it's equally capable as a Rivet Joint; it's equally capable as a Compass Call; it's equally capable as all these other aircraft when you look at the wide variety of things that it does," Moseley added. "But we had no desire to call it an RC or an EW or an F/A/EW/RC-22 something. So the simplicity of this is the Air Force has fighters with the nomenclature of F which should be in the lineage of the rest of the fighters."
Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne said it's imperative that the service maintain the F-22 Raptor line until the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) becomes available.
"There has been some receipt of the intention to maintain a warm F-22 line at least until we get a Joint Strike Fighter line," Wynne told reporters at the briefing.
"What that means in terms of rate is still being determined, but I have a feeling that the rate will diminish so as to allow an extension. The specifics are still being worked out within the context of the president's budget," he said.
Lockheed Martin also builds the F-35.
While the first JSF won't take to the air until late 2006, Wynne said the service would like to see the aircraft go through its tests and be certified as to mission. "Speaking to the outcome as to how it goes, I would say this. I think right now that the Joint Strike Fighter has gone through tremendous analysis, as it should have because it is a very large, high-dollar program."
"Right now the F-22 has gone through its tests and it's frankly exceeded our expectations on tests," he added.
Wynne added that the Air Force would support a plan that would stretch out F-22 acquisition to 2010.
"I don't know that it has been totally accepted by everybody, but certainly it fits the merits of my requirement that we have a warm, fifth generation fighter line," he said.
Concerns over the cost of the F-22 have led to cuts in the requested numbers, all the way down from a one-time high of 600 aircraft down to the current 180.
Wynne said he tries not to worry about numbers, but it seems a very bad signal if the service's sole fifth generation fighter line was not available to the president as an option.
The F-22 has been flown againstall of the integrated air defense systems (IADS) the Air Force could simulate, Moseley said.
"We've flown it against as many of the fourth and existing airplanes that we could fly against. We've flown it against the SAM (surface-to-air missiles) systems that we could fly against. We've dropped Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) off of it -- thousand pounders. We've dropped them sub-sonic; we've dropped them super-sonic. We've fired all the missiles off of it," Moseley said. "The airplane's performing in a magnificent manner, and it is today the finest air dominance airplane ever built. It is the personification of that fifth generation technology."
"So the F-22A is the definition of that air dominance airplane to do air-to-ground against that IADS and to do air-to-air against the remaining piece of the flying threats," he added.
The 183 number still gives the Air Force an opportunity to field seven squadrons, said Moseley. And with those seven squadrons the Air Force can get at the theater tasking and respond to that tasking.
"And by looking at keeping the line now open, that fifth generation line open, and bridges over to the Joint Strike Fighter, we now have that connectivity from fifth generation to fifth generation," he added. "The seven squadrons are combat coded squadrons, not the training squadrons that are down at Tyndall [AFB, Fla.]."
Ninety percent of the game is half mental.
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