The F-22 Fighter Puts U.S. on Top

Kelly Patricia O'Meara

The new F-22 Raptor fighter jet would give the United States clear superiority in the air well into the 21st century -- but is the $85 million price tag too costly?

People are going to be awestruck by this aircraft," declares Col. C.D. Moore, Air Force test pilot and Combined Test Force, or CTF, director for the new Lockheed-Martin F-22 Raptor. And Moore should know. He's spent the last two years in the driver's seat of the F-22 as one of the program's seven test pilots. But Moore isn't the only one enthusiastic about the new fighter. An impressive list of supporters, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff, members of Congress and former secretaries of defense are convinced that building and deploying the new fighter would assure that the United States will continue its international air superiority and dominance of the skies. To many critics of the F-22, however, awestruck is precisely the word to use when describing an aircraft that costs more than $85 million. But people such as Lt. Col. Steve Rainey, the first U.S. Air Force pilot to fly the F-22, aren't number crunchers, they are men who put their lives on the line. For them, the bottom line involves asking but one question: "On which side," asks Rainey, "do you want the body bags?"

The F-22 Raptor is 21st-century technology and the Air Force claims it is an integral part of the "tactical aircraft modernization program and key to dominating the skies in 2010 and beyond." Today's premier fighter, the 1970s-technology F-15, will be 25 years old when the F-22 comes on line and, according to the Air Force, "flying the F-15 into combat will be the equivalent of driving a 20-year-old car in the Indianapolis 500." More than that, the supporters of the superstealthy fighter claim that other nations now have fighters on a par with the F-15 or are slated to roll them off production lines during the next five years.

For example, the Eurofighter EF-2000 is superior to all U.S., Russian and European fighters except the F-22. The French Rafale, similar to the EF-2000 and still under development, and the Swedish Gripen are impressive but roughly in parity with current U.S. aircraft. The F-22 Raptor, however, outclasses them in speed, supercruise, maneuverability at supersonic speeds, stealth and integrated avionics. Furthermore, the Air Force claims, the F-22 will provide pilots a new capability never before realized: first look, first shot, first kill.

One of the impressive capabilities of the new fighter is that it will be as much as 80 times less visible than the current F-15, providing the important advantage of first look, first shot, before enemy aircraft even know it's there. Additionally, its stealth allows the fighter to get close to a target and out before the bombs explode. This, coupled with the F-22's ability to operate at altitudes of more than 50,000 feet, puts it out of reach of many surface-to-air missiles, or SAMs. Unlike its predecessors, the new plane also has the ability to supercruise -- to fly at better than Mach 1.5 without using an afterburner, greatly saving fuel. It allows for a hit-and-run before ever being identified or fired on. Finally, the new fighter is extremely agile, with an ability to recover from a 60-degree angle of attack. In all, it is reported to be the most technologically advanced jet ever built.

Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a California Republican and member of the House Appropriations Committee, is the only Navy ace to come out of the war in Southeast Asia. He recently traveled to Edwards Air Force Base to get a firsthand look at the new fighter. In an F-15, the lawmaker and former "Top Gun" pilot flew chase with the F-22 and tells Insight, "The performance of this fighter is superior." He says: "As a member of the Defense subcommittee on Appropriations I thought maybe if I tested it -- took an in-depth look at the capabilities -- we might be able to save taxpayer dollars and possibly some lives." He cuts to the bottom line: "If the question is `Can a pilot go out under combat conditions and complete his mission and return alive?' the answer is yes. One of the big advantages of this fighter is that we can close the range before the enemy can detect us, and that's a huge plus. The new technology in the cockpit is fantastic -- Buck Rogers stuff. It gives you the ability to know not only where your wingman is at all times, but also where the bad guys are. This aircraft looks lethal and it is lethal. This fighter is second to none in the world."

Rep. Jerry Lewis, the California Republican who is chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee on Defense, nonetheless has raised valid concerns about the F-22. Lewis tells Insight, "The program was set in motion in the early 1980s to ensure air dominance against the Soviet Union. The collapse of the Soviet bloc, combined with an increased emphasis on ground-to-air missiles for air defense, called into question whether this program is still the best one to meet future needs." Lewis says he is concerned about the much larger needs of the Air Force, which he says were revealed during the Kosovo operation. "We used 90 percent of our air-tanker fleet and all of our radar-jamming planes in Kosovo, leaving none for any other crisis that might arise. Furthermore, the Air Force has said its airlift fleet would have needed 90 days to recover from Kosovo before taking on any other mission. I believe these problems require immediate attention and cannot be put off until after the fighter program is completed."

The chairman also is concerned about the speed of production for the new fighter: "Pentagon test analysts have raised concerns that the F-22 program will have completed too few tests on the actual aircraft before proceeding to production. I was particularly concerned that the main avionics software, which will guide the pilot through complex maneuvers in combat, never has been installed on the actual aircraft."

Nonetheless, Lewis has been assured by the Air Force that it will be testing the avionics software in the F-22 test aircraft this year. "I expect them," says Lewis, "to meet the requirement, which was written into law by Congress last year, and I believe they will. The F-22 will be a fabulous asset if it meets all of the expectations that have been set by its designers and the Air Force." It is the F-22 advanced avionics, which received the lion's share of attention not only for its technology but also for production delays and cost increases, that is designed to allow the pilot to identify, target and kill enemy aircraft long before they reach visual range.

And from the point of view of whether it can be done, say advocates, the fighter has met and even surpassed many of the expectations. "We've demonstrated," says Moore, "the F-22's agility and its supercruise capabilities, and I feel certain when the avionics and stealth are tested this year the aircraft is going to water some eyes." According to Moore, "The F-22 is like having artificial intelligence. Instead of a pilot having to manage all the sensors like he now does in the F-15, now he has all that information in a single display. There is an incredible synergetic effect and no potential adversary will touch the F-22. The best course of action for anyone flying against this fighter is to make sure their parachute is ready."

Depending on its mission, the firepower of the F-22 is impressive. It will carry the AIM-120 advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles, or AMRAAMs; AIM-9 short-range missiles; as well as an internal 20mm cannon. The aircraft also can carry internally two 1,000-pound Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAM. With the "clean" configuration, the stealth characteristics improve the fighter's aerodynamics by reducing drag and increasing its range capabilities.

In a letter last year to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi, the Joint Chiefs of Staff made a strong case for the F-22: "Lessons over the last 50 years have taught us that air superiority is the prerequisite for successful military operations. Quite simply, since the addition of airpower to the tools of warfare, no major military campaign has succeeded without air superiority. The F-22 is the aircraft we are counting on to guarantee control of the skies."

A letter from seven former secretaries of defense contended: "The contribution of air superiority to national military success can hardly be overstated; no U.S. soldier has been killed by hostile air power in over 40 years. But command of the air requires that the U.S. possess unrivaled tactical aircraft, and the U.S. has not developed a new air-superiority fighter since the 1970s. It has one such aircraft under development today, the F-22 Raptor, and it is essential that this program succeed. It is not enough to say that something better may be available in the future. Something better is always available in the future. Serious threats to American air superiority may arise sooner, and the nation's security cannot tolerate a loss of command of the air."

Rainey understands that the cost of the F-22 has been a concern during development of the new fighter, but for him the questions continue to be simple. "What is the right investment for our national defense? Can we afford not to have this aircraft, and can we afford to settle for parity with our future potential threats in the 21st century?" There is no doubt about how he would answer those questions.

COPYRIGHT 2000 News World Communications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning