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<i>I'd rather be cautious, and so will they. There are still some people around who remember the first time the F-111 went to Vietnam. It was a disaster. Anyway, here is the Pollyanna view of it from a media source (Bloomberg) and a company source (Program Manager).</i>

<b>LM F-22A Raptor Ready for Combat, Air Force Says</b> (Posted: Thursday, December 15, 2005)
[Bloomberg News]

BY: Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg News
12/15/2005

Lockheed Martin Corp's F-22A Raptor stealth fighter, the most expensive fighter plane ever built, is ready for wartime operations, the Air Force's top combat commander said today.

“If we go to war tomorrow, the Raptor will be with us,” Air Combat Command General Ronald Keys wrote of a plane that's weathered congressional and public debate on its relevance post-Cold War. The Air Force says it needs at least 381 Raptors but the Pentagon plans to buy only about 180 though 2010. Lockheed already has delivered 56. Boeing Co. is the top subcontractor.

Keys announced the plane's readiness in a memo to Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne. The aircraft will initially be based with the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia.

The combat declaration comes 19 years after the Air Force started early development and 14 years after Lockheed Martin, the world's largest defense contractor, won the competition to take the plane into full-scale development and production.

The Air Force once envisioned buying 750 fighters at about $125 million apiece. The number was repeatedly cut and the inflation-adjusted unit cost is now $338 million -- a price that includes research and production dollars.

The F-22A is designed to handle threats in the air and on the ground and to have more speed and range than the fighter it's replacing, the F-15.

New Air Force Chief of Staff General Ted Moseley this week changed the aircraft's formal designation to F-22A from its longtime F/A-22 designation to be consistent with Air Force heritage that keeps only an “F” in front of the number.

The F-22A is capable of dropping two satellite-guided Boeing Joint Direct Attack Munitions as well as destroy enemy aircraft well beyond visual range with air-to-air missiles.

About $46 billion has been approved by Congress for F-22A spending since the 1980s. The program's total cost is $61 billion.


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12/15/2005

Dear Raptor Team,

We did it! Initial Operational Capability (IOC) of the F-22A Raptor was declared this afternoon by General Ronald E. Keys, Air Combat Commander at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia.
In doing so, the General said the Raptor is now available for use in combat around the globe and for use in homeland defense missions. The current 27th Fighter Squadron combat deployment capability with the F-22A is a 12-ship deployable package designed to execute air-to-air and air-to-ground missions.
In the words of General Keys, “The F-22A fulfills a long quest to bring fifth generation capabilities of stealth, supercruise and precision to the warfighter today and 30 years from today. If we go to war tomorrow, the Raptor will go with us. The Raptor’s cutting edge technology brings us continued joint air dominance despite advancing enemy threats.”
While declaring IOC, General Keys also publicly announced that the name of the Raptor has been changed from F/A-22 to F-22A, as indicated earlier this week when Air Force Chief of Staff, Gen. Michael Moseley, said the Air Force decided to remove the letter "A" from the first part of the fighter's designation to better align the Raptor with previous Air Force fighters. The “A” in the back of F-22 is also in line with the way the Air Force denotes updated or spiral versions that are produced after the initial baseline model weapons system.
From our perspective, we’ll keep on making the best fighter ever designed, tested, manufactured and delivered to a grateful nation.
Congratulations again and well done on making history!

Larry Lawson,
Executive Vice President & F-22 General Manager




Ninety percent of the game is half mental.

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What the *^%$%^#@* are we gonna use it for in a war like the one we are engaged in currently ? Gimme a break.

"By this time tomorrow I shall have gained either a peerage or Westminster Abbey !" Nelson the Immortal Memory

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YGBSM !

Mine reaction was: "is the General sleeping since millenium? Has he get the bug?". Mine second was: "soon in theatre all over the world?"

I hope when the plane is now operational it also goes to Europe (airshows or for stops) to show what it can do in air.

Salute Dutchy
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Termites do it in the dark!
(47FS Barksdale afb)

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73-1664

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>“If we go to war tomorrow, the Raptor will be with us,” <hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>
Uuummmm....I thought we <i>are</i> at war.

They say that the only two things certain in life are death and taxes. I prefer them in that order.

Ok it's ready for combat, well how about if it takes the next deployment to a unimproved location that the hogs usualy deploy to. Then we'll see just how good it realy it.

capche-capche da - we go forward together

Faugh ah Ballaugh -Clear The Way-

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Faugh ah Ballaugh ~ Clear the Way

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote> the General said the Raptor is now available for use in combat around the globe and for use in homeland defense missions.<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>

HAHAHa what a fucking comedian!

" Hi this is the Captain Speaking. We are locked down safely in this cabin like fort knox and armed with the most powerful handgun in the world the 454 Casul, if you look out on the starboard and portside wings you will see the most expensive fighter jet ever made. the F/A 22 Raptor Deep Domestic incenerator fully apped and prepared to blow your sacred ass out of the sky. Flown by the most unskilled 27 Year old disgruntled Captain that unfortunately didnt get to deploy to afdirtistan. Thats right folks there hasnt been an air war in the past 20 years. And hes itching to uncage a few heaters in our direction. So folks please don't take much notice to the cave digger seated in isle 27L attempting to light his sneaker on fire. Becasue we here at Delta and the friendly USAF escorts are here to protect our American way of life."



<img src=newicons/anim_lol.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=newicons/anim_lol.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=newicons/anim_lol.gif border=0 align=middle>

"The greatest pleasure is to vanquish your enemies, to chase them before you, to rob them of their wealth, to see their near and dear bathed in tears, to ride their horses and sleep on the white bellies of their wives and daughters."
-Genghis Khan

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\"A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week. \"

George S. Patton

" Hi this is the Captain Speaking. We are locked down safely in this cabin like fort knox and armed with the most powerful handgun in the world the 454 Casul, if you look out on the starboard and portside wings you will see the most expensive fighter jet ever made. the F/A 22 Raptor Deep Domestic incenerator fully apped and prepared to blow your sacred ass out of the sky. Flown by the most unskilled 27 Year old disgruntled Captain that unfortunately didnt get to deploy to afdirtistan. Thats right folks there hasnt been an air war in the past 20 years. And hes itching to uncage a few heaters in our direction. So folks please don't take much notice to the cave digger seated in isle 27L attempting to light his sneaker on fire. Becasue we here at Delta and the friendly USAF escorts are here to protect our American way of life."



Good one, Thug!!

<img src=newicons/anim_lol.gif border=0 align=middle>

Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a GAU-8A at your side, kid...--Hawg Solo

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\"Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a GAU-8/A at your side, kid.\"--Hawg Solo

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
What the *^%$%^#@* are we gonna use it for in a war like the one we are engaged in currently ? Gimme a break.
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>

Are you saying there is no air to air or SAM threat possible in Iraq, therefore it is useless? Et Tu Brute. I don't understand the notion that the whole Air Force should be configured to counter one scenario. Do we even need F-15s then? F-4s should be overkill for any task in Iraq. Aside from air superiority, there are many potential enemies in the world that have SAMs that are a problem for all aircraft. The F-22 has a lot better chance of ignoring SAMs, even killing them, so that more vulnerable jets can still be effective. The F-22 may have some rough edges and reliability problems, but it is a better killing machine with a lot of tricks up its sleeve. Remember, it is intended to be front line for 30 years. I'm guessing that about 750 F-15A thru D's were built. Can 180 F-22's replace them? I understand that the Warsaw Pact is gone, but gee whiz, the world does not look any safer to me. The French and the Russians will sell their best stuff to anyone with cash. Hawg66 begs the question "What the *^%$%^#@* are we gonna use the ______ (fill in the blank with F-35, Abrams tank, Seawolf submarine, B-2 bomber, Peacemaker ICBM, Patriot SAM etc.) for in a war like the one we are engaged in currently ? Gimme a break."


Ninety percent of the game is half mental.

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<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
If we go to war tomorrow, the Raptor will be with us,”
Uuummmm....I thought we <i>are</i> at war.
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>

I think he is referring to the First Fighter Wing, not the USA in general.

Ninety percent of the game is half mental.

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<i>Here's what the Brits think about it. Can't the same be said of the Typhoon? Spitfires and Hurricanes could be effective against Iraqi insurgents, no?</i>

Bad timing: There’s something discomfiting about spending tens of billions of dollars more on a weapon that virtually everyone realises is useless in the ongoing war against faceless insurgents and terrorists. It is with some relief then that the US Air Force announced the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22A Raptor’s operational debut without resorting to the overstated marketing campaigns that have sometimes characterised the programme’s development. The F-22A is many things, but it is clearly not part of the solution for coalition commanders trying to keep order on the streets of Baghdad and Bagram. The F-22’s design role was air superiority, not ground attack. USAF Chief of Staff Gen Michael Moseley agrees. “In the role that we’re in now with [Boeing] F-15Es carrying 2,000-pounders and [Lockheed] F-16s carrying 500- and 2,000-pounders, does the F-22 bring something significantly different to this fight this afternoon? The answer is no.” To be fair the F-22A may have a respectable air-to-ground capability, but it is far too precious and rare a resource for the USAF to be committing it to the street-fight that is dearly straining the equipment and force structure of the army and marine corps. Calling it the F/A-22 for three years may have been a shrewd marketing gimmick by the air force brass, but it cannot overcome the reality that the Raptors being delivered today are not optimised for ground-attack missions. On the contrary, USAF leaders may be right to be so visibly proud of the F-22A’s air-to-air skills. Indeed, these were the attributes used to justify the programme in the first place, and now seem validated after a sometimes frustrating, but ultimately successful series of flight tests and operational evaluations. This is exactly what makes for the some­what awkward timing of the USAF’s celebration over the F-22A’s service entry. It gives the impression that the USAF’s priorities and strategic focus are looking past the current conflict. Disclosing new details of a proposal now on the table that would slightly increase F-22A orders and extend the production line two years may reinforce that sense of the air force’s strategy. The situation also reminds us that, for the air force, the situation on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan makes a mockery of a vision of airpower that is concentrated on fighting and defeating a near-peer enemy equipped with the latest fighters and a sophisticated surface-to-air missile system. The USAF may gamble that it can get away with ignoring this reality and plunging forward full-speed on its modernisation campaign. Time will soon tell if air power’s current irrelevance will come back to haunt this strategy. (Editorial in Flight International)



Ninety percent of the game is half mental.

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