MARIETTA, Ga., December 15, 2005 -- Lockheed Martin’s [NYSE: LMT] F-22A Raptor, the world’s only 5th generation fighter aircraft, surpassed a monumental milestone today when the United States Air Force declared that the Raptor has reached initial operational capability.

General Ronald E. Keys, Commander of Air Combat Command, made the historic announcement at Langley Air Force Base, Va., from a Raptor hangar near his headquarters. “The F-22A fulfills a long quest to bring 5th generation capabilities of stealth, supercruise, and precision to the warfighter today and for decades to come,” said General Keys in an Air Force news release. “If we go to war tomorrow, the Raptor will go with us.”

The Air Force is now capable of deploying and supporting 12 F-22A Raptor aircraft anywhere in the world to execute air-to-air and air-to-ground missions. The Raptor is also qualified to perform homeland defense missions when required.

“It’s another great day for our nation, the Air Force and certainly for the Raptor industry team,” said Larry Lawson, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics executive vice president and F-22 general manager. “Thousands of workers in 42 states throughout our nation can take great pride in the fact that we not only met the customer’s requirements, but we exceeded these expectations and produced a revolutionary fighter aircraft for our country. The Raptor is the very first supersonic, stealth fighter that incorporates capabilities never before possible in one weapons system and in the words of the Air Force, achieves ‘overwhelming’ performance.”

“This day culminates the great work of a dedicated, nation-wide industry team,” said Ralph D. Heath, president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics and executive vice president of Lockheed Martin. “Lockheed Martin is honored to be part of this historic milestone and is proud to serve the Air Force and the U.S. government. The American people can rest assured that this industry team produced an aircraft that can meet the challenges our country has to face for the next 40 years, and that provides the ultimate safety possible for the men and women who fly it.”

“This has been a great year for the Raptor program,” said Lawson. “We had excellent news early in 2005 with results of Initial Operational Test and Evaluation (IOT&E). More good news followed in March when the Department of Defense approved the Raptor for full rate production. The Air Force had a successful deployment of eight Raptors in October to Hill Air Force Base. We look forward to the final report for Follow-On Operational Test and Evaluation (FOT&E) as flying is complete. All of these accomplishments are significant milestones for the program. We’ve completed final assembly on 67 of the 107 revolutionary stealthy aircraft presently on contract. In short, the F-22A program is healthy, solid and on track – with superb production and solid aircraft performance.”
The F-22 Raptor, the world's most advanced 5th generation fighter, is built by Lockheed Martin in partnership with Boeing and Pratt & Whitney. Approximately 1,000 suppliers in 42 states provide parts and subsystems. F-22 production takes place at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics facilities in Palmdale, Calif.; Meridian, Miss.; Marietta, Ga.; and Fort Worth, Texas, as well as at Boeing's plant in Seattle, Wash. Final assembly and initial flight testing of the Raptor occurs at the Marietta plant facilities.

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/wms/fi...11&ti=0&sc=400

We kinda posted the same thing phoneix


Oh well good to get information from more than once source anyway.

There is still a chance Rummy is going to kill the program or at least severely curtail it. We will see what happens...

Originally Posted by mmarsh

There is still a chance Rummy is going to kill the program or at least severely curtail it. We will see what happens...

I seriously hope not. You can just move the F-15Es over to ground-attack and let the F-22s take over the air superiority job. Everyone's got work and no one has to go to the scrap heap.

To shut down the F-22 at this point in the game would be a seriously shortsighted move. America wins wars only because of air dominance.

It all hinges on the JSF. The F-22A is a remarkable plane no doubt about that but at $130-180, even for the loose purses of the Bush Administration, all I can say is ouch! The other problem was that it was designed with the ability to go deep in enemy air space with a heavy Air Defence system. But with the fall of the Soviet Union, the need of having a 'stealth' fighter is mooted. Also the AF seems very interested in drones, You will see drones capable of doing the AA role within the next decade or so. No need for a pilot, and they are expendable.

If the JSF can do a comparable job in the air superiority role than the F-22A becomes a costly burden. If the JSF is proven inferior to what the Europeaners, Chinese, and Russians are cooking up then I think think they will go ahead with production, at least on a limited scale.

Well there's two things there mmarsh.

The first is I think you overstate the ability of American developers to field weapons. Sure we've got UAV ideas on the page, but air-combat UAVs arn't going to be fielded in a long time. Same deal with the F-35. By the time it's actually operational we'll already be a good way into F-22 production.

The second part is that I think you underestimate the American political will to take casualties. If you've got a stealth fighter that is basically invincible, politicians love that. They can go in and shoot things down to make pretty CNN footage without losing American lives in the process. Everyone from Bush to Clinton to Bush W. just couldn't help but use stealth technology and there's no reason for future presidents not to desire it.

It has beaten the F-15 in race has more firepower than 2 F-15's combined

It has beaten the F-15 in race has more firepower than 2 F-15's combined

Ive seen all kinds of things on how it stacks up against the F-15s.

Went up against 8 F-15Cs and won.

Flew over there cockpit without being detected on radar.

If true those are some mighty impressive feats.

Originally Posted by mmarsh

There is still a chance Rummy is going to kill the program or at least severely curtail it. We will see what happens...

I think the Air Force can pull a sheet over his head and hold it there for three more years. The Air Force knows what it needs and they will not give up on the Raptor without one hell of a fight, I am confident the Air Force can figure out a way to keep Rummy in the dark for a few years, seems the CIA and Army managed it once, I am sure the Air Force will not let themselves be outstaged.

Rabs, you're not only correct but it's even more powerful than that. The history channel did a special on the F-22 where they interviewed the pilots in the first sqadrons.

The pilots said that when they, the F-22 pilots, where in F-15s against one F-22. The F-22 would constantly and consistaintly kill all 5 F-15s before the F-15s could even see them. And this was regardless of tactics used and with F-22 pilots in the F-15 seats.

I would feel very very bad for a poor poor SU-27 pilot who has some 350 F-22s over his airspace.