Congress voted in 2009 to stop purchasing the F-22 stealth fighters after just 187 were made, hundreds less than the USAF had planned
According to Washington Examiner, on Jun. 18, 2017, the U.S. House Armed Services Committee (HASC) has received a secret report on restarting production of the F-22 Raptor from the U.S. Air Force (USAF).
House lawmakers ordered the report last year to determine what it would take and how much it might cost to re-start producing the high-tech, fifth generation aircraft again.
Congress in fact voted in 2009 to stop purchasing the F-22 stealth fighters after just 187 were made, hundreds less than the USAF had planned.
Actually the F-22 Raptor’s combination of stealth, supercruise, maneuverability, and integrated avionics, coupled with improved supportability, represents an exponential leap in warfighting capabilities. The Raptor performs both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions allowing full realization of operational concepts vital to the 21st century Air Force.
A combination of sensor capability, integrated avionics, situational awareness, and weapons provides first-kill opportunity against threats. The F-22 possesses a sophisticated sensor suite allowing the pilot to track, identify, shoot and kill air-to-air threats before being detected. Significant advances in cockpit design and sensor fusion improve the pilot’s situational awareness.
The sophisticated F-22 aerodesign, advanced flight controls, thrust vectoring, and high thrust-to-weight ratio provide the capability to outmaneuver all current and projected aircraft.
The F-22 design has been extensively tested and refined aerodynamically during the development process.
The F-22’s characteristics provide a synergistic effect ensuring F-22A lethality against all advanced air threats. The combination of stealth, integrated avionics and supercruise drastically shrinks surface-to-air missile engagement envelopes and minimizes enemy capabilities to track and engage the F-22. The combination of reduced observability and supercruise accentuates the advantage of surprise in a tactical environment.
Photo credit: Senior Airman Kayla Newman / U.S. Air Force
Artwork courtesy of AircraftProfilePrints.com
Additional source: U.S. Air Force
