My Rapt Attention

If you love aviation, there is one plane out there that is sure to set your heart a flutter, the most advanced fighter plane in the world, the F-22A Raptor. First conceived in the 1980's this aircraft is now a reality, operating in active duty squadrons and flying missions.

This plane is jaw-dropping for several reasons.

• Stealth. You don't know this plane is there until something explodes.
• Radar. The radar on this thing is incredible. Not only can it reach out and find targets at incredible ranges, but somehow it doesn't give away the presence of the Raptor (exactly how is top secret). Even more, this radar can be focused on enemy electronics, such as a radar station, and the energy will fry the electronics! This is like science fiction.
• Avionics. This is a flying supercomputer (actually several supercomputers) networked with other aircraft and satellites. The computer and pilot work together to manage volumes of information, showing every unit on the ground and in the air, friend and foe.
  
• Speed. The F-22 is the first fighter that can fly supersonic without using its afterburners; this is called "supercruise." The airspeed the older planes could achieve for only five or ten minutes, the Raptor calls normal.
• Maneuverability. The Raptor has vectored thrust, which means it can point its exhaust in different directions. This gives it the ability to turn tightly, do somersaults, and other aerobatic maneuvers that no American plane has been able to do before (the Russians have been doing this for awhile). This alone will get me to stand in the sun all day at an airshow.
  
• Cost. Yes the plane costs over $100 million dollars (the exact figure depends on how many we end up making and could be two or three times this amount). But each F-22 replaces several other aircraft. Instead of a team of twenty aircraft with four or five different jobs, you send two planes to do the whole thing. It's significantly cheaper on several levels.
  
• Lethality. Each Raptor should be able to shoot down six or more planes on each mission until the bad guys stop putting planes in the air. And they may never have even caught a glimpse of the F-22.

Here's some more information on the Raptor (click to enlarge).





Note: This was post 350. Thanks for reading.