Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 32

Thread: A new era is upon us.

  1. #1
    Staff Emeritus
    Join Date
    03 Aug 03
    Posts
    16,429

    A new era is upon us.



    Well folks, say hello to the USAF's first OPERATIONAL F-22.

    A new era is upon us.

    http://www.strategypage.com/gallery/...s_20056110.asp
    Last edited by Bill; 13 Jun 05, at 00:06.

  2. #2
    WAB Bartender Defense Professional
    Military Professional
    Bluesman's Avatar
    Join Date
    24 Nov 04
    Location
    Nellis AFB, Las Vegas, NV
    Posts
    8,566
    Quote Originally Posted by M21Sniper


    Well folks, say hello to the USAF's first OPERATIONAL F-22.

    A new era is upon us.
    Absolutely right. Just as other nations had warships when the ironclads USS Monitor and CSS Virginia fought their duel, other nations have fighters as we bring the F-22 on-line.

    Both events made the entire category mean something else, and those other warships/fighters becme also-rans overnight, able to fight each other, but not the newcomers.
    "The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it, and if one finds the prospect of a long war intolerable, it is natural to disbelieve in the possibility of victory."
    - George Orwell

  3. #3
    Staff Emeritus
    Join Date
    03 Aug 03
    Posts
    16,429
    "able to fight each other, but not the newcomers"

    Hehehe, it's good to be the king.

  4. #4
    Ex-Wabber Defense Professional
    Join Date
    10 Dec 04
    Posts
    7,029
    Your picture link died...

    Is that 4041? IIRC it was delivered to Langley on May 12. They should have two more by now. I think all of the Tyndall Raptors have the received lot 3 IOC updates, I know all the FOT&E AC have them. So there are a whole bunch of Raptors that could go to war tomorrow if needed (like about 40 of them).

    Edit to add: the final report was released on the crash at Edwards. The cause was a power interruption of the flight control system during takeoff. The pilot had run the initialization tests, then taxied over to a service area and shut down the engines on the ramp. The AC switched over to the APU, and when he restarted the engines to go, he didn't run the initialization program again- he didn't realize that power was interrupted when the system was switched over. Had he rerun the initialization, the crash wouldn't have happened. Anyway, the corrections have been applied- expensive lesson.
    Last edited by highsea; 12 Jun 05, at 21:13.
    "We will go through our federal budget – page by page, line by line – eliminating those programs we don’t need, and insisting that those we do operate in a sensible cost-effective way." -President Barack Obama 11/25/2008

  5. #5
    Staff Emeritus
    Join Date
    03 Aug 03
    Posts
    16,429
    I guess the link died.

    I put a manual link to the globalsecurity pic in the first post, so if global security is still hosting it, that should work.

    The aircraft is 03-042.

  6. #6
    Ex-Wabber Defense Professional
    Join Date
    10 Dec 04
    Posts
    7,029
    Quote Originally Posted by M21Sniper
    The aircraft is 03-042.
    Okay, that's Raptor 4042, should have been the second one delivered to Langley (or they were delivered together). Maybe 41 got held up in the paint booth, lol.

    Nice pic.
    "We will go through our federal budget – page by page, line by line – eliminating those programs we don’t need, and insisting that those we do operate in a sensible cost-effective way." -President Barack Obama 11/25/2008

  7. #7
    Patron EricTheRed's Avatar
    Join Date
    12 Feb 05
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    294
    It is going to be the last great manned fighter. The next round of fighters will most likely be computer controlled

  8. #8
    WAB Bartender Defense Professional
    Military Professional
    Bluesman's Avatar
    Join Date
    24 Nov 04
    Location
    Nellis AFB, Las Vegas, NV
    Posts
    8,566
    Quote Originally Posted by EricTheRed
    It is going to be the last great manned fighter. The next round of fighters will most likely be computer controlled
    Perhaps; we'll see.
    "The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it, and if one finds the prospect of a long war intolerable, it is natural to disbelieve in the possibility of victory."
    - George Orwell

  9. #9
    Senior Contributor bonehead's Avatar
    Join Date
    12 Jan 05
    Posts
    4,866
    The raptor should have a long service life unless it is squashed by financial reasons. Fighters are now hamstrung by the limitations of the pilots. Humans just can't take the g's that the fighters can. The benefits of manned fighters are hard to ignore. The future of air warfare will be interesting. We shall see.

  10. #10
    WAB Bartender Defense Professional
    Military Professional
    Bluesman's Avatar
    Join Date
    24 Nov 04
    Location
    Nellis AFB, Las Vegas, NV
    Posts
    8,566
    I think that the thing that makes that prediction possible is the continuing evolution of data-moving technology. If it continues as it has, then even human brains and eyes - to say nothing of the above point about g limitations - may be too slow and limited in ability to deal with unmanned super-fighters.

    I think it is definitely in the future at some point. But how soon?
    "The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it, and if one finds the prospect of a long war intolerable, it is natural to disbelieve in the possibility of victory."
    - George Orwell

  11. #11
    Staff Emeritus
    Join Date
    03 Aug 03
    Posts
    16,429
    "Fighters are now hamstrung by the limitations of the pilots. Humans just can't take the g's that the fighters can."

    Raptor pilots wear a new swiss designed liquid filled G suit that enables the pilot to safely perform 11g sustained manuevers, vs the 9gs that all the other top fighters can sustain.

  12. #12
    Patron SloMax's Avatar
    Join Date
    05 Jun 05
    Location
    EU
    Posts
    298
    "Absolutely right. Just as other nations had warships when the ironclads USS Monitor and CSS Virginia fought their duel, other nations have fighters as we bring the F-22 on-line."

    this will fire up the debate for sure...

    Germany has now also first operational eurofighters and soon the UK, Spain...

  13. #13
    Staff Emeritus
    Join Date
    03 Aug 03
    Posts
    16,429
    The EF-2000 is not in the F-22s class. Even the plane's makers admit that.

    Nothing is in the F-22s class.

  14. #14
    Contributor hello's Avatar
    Join Date
    31 May 05
    Posts
    697
    Quote Originally Posted by M21Sniper


    Well folks, say hello to the USAF's first OPERATIONAL F-22.

    A new era is upon us.

    http://www.strategypage.com/gallery/...s_20056110.asp
    Very nice pic.
    Currently there are no UCAVs that have the technolgy to do A2A. All the existing ones are recon/bombers.

  15. #15
    WAB Bartender Defense Professional
    Military Professional
    Bluesman's Avatar
    Join Date
    24 Nov 04
    Location
    Nellis AFB, Las Vegas, NV
    Posts
    8,566
    Quote Originally Posted by hello
    Very nice pic.
    Currently there are no UCAVs that have the technolgy to do A2A. All the existing ones are recon/bombers.
    Merely a matter of time until aerial robots fight each other, I think.
    "The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it, and if one finds the prospect of a long war intolerable, it is natural to disbelieve in the possibility of victory."
    - George Orwell

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. The New Middle East
    By Ray in forum The Middle East and North Africa
    Replies: 8
    Last Post: 14 Aug 07,, 11:20
  2. The Humvee era is over, at least for U.S. military in Iraq
    By troung in forum The Middle East and North Africa
    Replies: 16
    Last Post: 20 Nov 06,, 08:04
  3. Middle East hopes for a new era
    By Hawk_eye in forum The Middle East and North Africa
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 11 Feb 05,, 05:00

Share this thread with friends:

Share this thread with friends:

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •