F-22 has unique combination of speed and stealth

ARLINGTON, Va., March 30 (UPI) -- The U.S. Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor was designed to combat developments like those described previously. Much of its edge is built into the aerodynamics of the platform.

The whole intent of the F-22 Raptor was to create one fighter with the performance to ensure superiority against upgraded and new adversary fighters, even as they add advanced capabilities. No other fighter flying today has that mission.

Why is a combination of legacy fighters and the new Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter not sufficient to provide conventional deterrence for the U.S. Air Force? Like many other systems, aircraft are all about trade-offs. Yet it has been understood for a long time that at least one fighter platform had to reach for uncompromised design in order to provide a deterrent stretching over several decades.

That aircraft is the F-22. One of its top characteristics is speed. Tests with derivative Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcons in the years between 1982 and 1985 demonstrated the possibility of brief periods of supersonic flight without afterburner. The U.S. Air Force added the requirement for super-cruise -- flying at Mach 1 to Mach 1.6 or more without afterburner -- because it would give the F-22 Raptor significant advantages against other fighters or surface-to-air missiles.

No one had attempted to build supersonic speed with stealth before, but the F-22 Raptor did it, and it remains to this day the only aircraft in the world with this ability.

The other advantage waiting to be claimed was altitude. Stealth designers favored altitudes above 40,000 feet because enemy radar might be less effective in those reaches. However, the F-22 Raptor would have to operate with exceptional maneuverability, which required another technology known as thrust vectoring.

Knowing the F-22 Raptor would take care of the toughest threats, the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter was designed as a single-engine attack aircraft to suit a wide range of customers and operating environments. Beyond this, the whole design of the F-35 was predicated on having the F-22, which was ahead of it by about 10 years, in the force.

Today the F-35 is beginning rigorous flight testing, and initial results are promising. However, there are several years to go before the F-35 reaches its initial operating capability. The F-22 reached that status in 2005.

What is clear already is that the decision to optimize F-22 and F-35 for different missions was wise. There will be challenges ahead, and some of the specific, high-performance features of the F-22 will be extremely important.

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Part 13: Tactics and combat performance capabilities necessary for evading surface-to-air missiles and moving through enemy fighters at high altitude and high speed.

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(Rebecca Grant, Ph.D., is a senior fellow of the Lexington Institute, a non-profit public-policy research organization based in Arlington, Va.)

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(United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)