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| The U.S. Air Force accepted F-22 tail number 4192 at Lockheed Martin’s Marietta, Ga., site on March 23, 2012. This F-22 Raptor was then flown to Joint Base Langley-Eustis (Va.) where it will be based. |
*stretched fuselage for more fuel and weapons and maybe a WSO.
*fully developed avionics upgraded to F-35 standards.
*big wings, subsonic engines for a ultra high flying, ultra long endurance strato bomber.
and that's just off the top of my head and I'm not a jet guy. These all might be impractical but hey, I'm trying and so should the USAF. I'm convinced that drones, while useful in a COIN, are less relevant in other scenarios.
Time will tell but we should maximize all the systems that we have in hand now.
http://www.f-16.net/attachments/fb_22_p02_1_0001_763.jpg
ReplyDeleteVarious options that were considered. (I like the -1 myself)
sferrin, the link doesnt work, it just goes to a logo of f-16.net
ReplyDeleteSelect the link, paste it in your address bar, and it will take you right to the pic. I just did it.
ReplyDeleteWhatever the merits the chance of any new F-22 is zero. The line is shut down and this horse has left the barn. We lost any chance of a stretched F/B-22 some time ago. It was extremely short sighted not to buy 320 and provide 1 squadron for each of the ten USAF expeditionary wings but we are where we are.
ReplyDeleteInstead of looking back at the F-22 and it's 1980's tech, however, we should look forward to the next two fighter programs which are supposed to share some systems. The USN has the NGAD (was F/A-XX) which will be a twin seat, twin engine, air superiority optimized fighter and will share some systems with the USAF's larger F-22 follow on.
The importance of the F-22 follow will be based on the perceived need for air superiority fighters which was heavily discounted when the decision was made to cut the F-22 to 187. As far as long range strike is concerned the USAF might end up with up to 200 new bombers to replace the current mix. The USN and eventually the USAF will also be fielding long range fighter sized UCAS for strike and ISR.
While an F-111 class aircraft would be useful it's not clear it's a big requirement given other aircraft but it's not going to happen for quite a long time given the F-35. Thus would be a long term project and I'd suggest would be derived from one of the future aircraft.
It's also worth considering what can be done with the F-35. A few customers do want a twin seat version and LM will probably offer a derived design for NGAD as well.
i tend to disagree Lane.
ReplyDeleteupgrades are a fantastic thing...i can see a bunch of those non combat capable jets recieving a little TLC and making the jump to a two seat version capable of long distance strike.
stranger things have happened and i'm still not sold on UCAV's operating on the same deck as manned fighters.