aonestudio
I really should change my personal text
- Joined
- 11 March 2018
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View: https://twitter.com/ryankakiuchan/status/1503394768700682242?s=20&t=tTiravXYI8V1goMNsMuMfA
A pretty weathered F-22. I’m not sure if I’ve seen this much weathering of the skin in previous F-22 deployments to the Middle East.
More here:
379th AEW Airmen support OAS II
A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor pilot assigned to the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing departs from a KC-135 Stratotanker over Southwest Asia, March 9, 2022. The F-22 Raptors participated in Operation Agile Spartan II and conducted Agile Combat Employment concepts throughout the U.S. Central Command...www.dvidshub.net
Thats probably why.View: https://twitter.com/ryankakiuchan/status/1503394768700682242?s=20&t=tTiravXYI8V1goMNsMuMfA
A pretty weathered F-22. I’m not sure if I’ve seen this much weathering of the skin in previous F-22 deployments to the Middle East.
More here:
379th AEW Airmen support OAS II
A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor pilot assigned to the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing departs from a KC-135 Stratotanker over Southwest Asia, March 9, 2022. The F-22 Raptors participated in Operation Agile Spartan II and conducted Agile Combat Employment concepts throughout the U.S. Central Command...www.dvidshub.net
I wonder why the USAF has let the F-22 skin get so weathered like that, I thought that to maintain the stealth capability the F-22 would have to go through regular repainting and maintenance.
Keep in mind there was an official photo pretty recently of a Mud Hen with a similarly rough appearance. Were there a bunch of sandstorms over there recently and no wash rack? Some of the sand over there is more talcum powder than what most Americans think of as sand so it could cake on... That said, doing my best here not to go full CDR Salamander on the maintenance troops about their jet's appearance.I wonder if the surface is very rough and allows sand particles to work their way into the outer surface which makes it very difficult to remove. If it doesn't affect RCS I guess it doesn't matter. That being said I'd be surprised if it doesn't affect it.
To make sure we could whack F-4s?!?Another reason why we should have built all 700 F-22s.
The entire rest of the world flies F-4s?To make sure we could whack F-4s?!?Another reason why we should have built all 700 F-22s.
The rest of the world flies radar reflectors...... Hell 400 would have been nice given the exchange ratio in exercisesThe entire rest of the world flies F-4s?To make sure we could whack F-4s?!?Another reason why we should have built all 700 F-22s.
View: https://twitter.com/ryankakiuchan/status/1503394768700682242?s=20&t=tTiravXYI8V1goMNsMuMfA
A pretty weathered F-22. I’m not sure if I’ve seen this much weathering of the skin in previous F-22 deployments to the Middle East.
More here:
379th AEW Airmen support OAS II
A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor pilot assigned to the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing departs from a KC-135 Stratotanker over Southwest Asia, March 9, 2022. The F-22 Raptors participated in Operation Agile Spartan II and conducted Agile Combat Employment concepts throughout the U.S. Central Command...www.dvidshub.net
I wonder why the USAF has let the F-22 skin get so weathered like that, I thought that to maintain the stealth capability the F-22 would have to go through regular repainting and maintenance.
No, but that's the competition in the Mid East. As for the rest of the world, presumably you mean China, in which case I think the current F-22 force is more than ample enough to fill up every US air base in the West Pac.The entire rest of the world flies F-4s?To make sure we could whack F-4s?!?Another reason why we should have built all 700 F-22s.
China, Russia, Iran, North Korea etc.No, but that's the competition in the Mid East. As for the rest of the world, presumably you mean China, in which case I think the current F-22 force is more than ample enough to fill up every US air base in the West Pac.The entire rest of the world flies F-4s?To make sure we could whack F-4s?!?Another reason why we should have built all 700 F-22s.
The other jets are far more vulnerable to attrition though, except the F-35s maybe.I think it is when combined with all of the other fighters in inventory, yes.
I don't think Iran or Bestest Korea will ever be attriting anything. The VKS is failing to impress so far as well.The other jets are far more vulnerable to attrition though, except the F-35s maybe.I think it is when combined with all of the other fighters in inventory, yes.
The reason F-22 fleet has such abysmal combat readiness rate (~50%) is largely a symptom of the radical procurement number cuts. Had politicians not cut the already lowered requirement for the service from 381, Raptor fleet would have been in a better shape with a greater impact in the battlespace.I don't think Iran or Bestest Korea will ever be attriting anything. The VKS is failing to impress so far as well.The other jets are far more vulnerable to attrition though, except the F-35s maybe.I think it is when combined with all of the other fighters in inventory, yes.
There's no shortage of F-35's; I think USAF alone has almost 300 and it hasn't even officially entered full rate production. It only carriers four missiles, but soon there will be enough in inventory there will be one for each of the Su-30/34/35, MiG-31BMs.
I don't think the relatively small size of the F-22 force is a major hang up.
High demand low density is always hard on a fleet, as is a curtailed production. That said, it would be interesting to know how much of the MC rate is accounted for by NMC flyable jets. Back when I still wore a flight suit one of the Raptor maintainers kindly took me around the jet and showed me a number of things that made it NMC but still flyable, mind you not the kind of thing to discuss in public, food for thought though...The reason F-22 fleet has such abysmal combat readiness rate (~50%) is largely a symptom of the radical procurement number cuts. Had politicians not cut the already lowered requirement for the service from 381, Raptor fleet would have been in a better shape with a greater impact in the battlespace.
OF course those type of deals are...High demand low density is always hard on a fleet, as is a curtailed production. That said, it would be interesting to know how much of the MC rate is accounted for by NMC flyable jets. Back when I still wore a flight suit one of the Raptor maintainers kindly took me around the jet and showed me a number of things that made it NMC but still flyable, mind you not the kind of thing to discuss in public, food for thought though...The reason F-22 fleet has such abysmal combat readiness rate (~50%) is largely a symptom of the radical procurement number cuts. Had politicians not cut the already lowered requirement for the service from 381, Raptor fleet would have been in a better shape with a greater impact in the battlespace.
What's going on is they're making the raptor even stealthier. The radar energy will penetrate and exponentially decay. This has nothing to to with ir as some speculate. They're doing some cool things with nano tech coatings these daysI'd still like to know what was going on here:Getting some ADAPTIV vibes here:
View attachment 675747
The picture I posted is 23 years old.What's going on is they're making the raptor even stealthier. The radar energy will penetrate and exponentially decay. This has nothing to to with ir as some speculate. They're doing some cool things with nano tech coatings these daysI'd still like to know what was going on here:Getting some ADAPTIV vibes here:
View attachment 675747
Not to mention that it's also the flight sciences bird which wouldn't have LOThe picture I posted is 23 years old.
F-22 involved in landing mishap at Eglin Air Force Base
By
Defense Brief Editorial
March 22, 2022
A US Air Force F-22 Raptor from the 325th Fighter Wing experienced a mishap while landing at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida on March 22.
The US Air Force said the accident took place at around 10:25 a.m., adding that emergency crews responded immediately on the scene.
The pilot was transported to flight medicine for an evaluation, it was added. An investigation into the circumstances surrounding the mishap is underway.
No further details on the accident have been release. It is worth noting that the mishap took place almost exactly a year after the emergency landing of another F-22 from the same wing at Eglin Air Force base on March 15.
I was assured by another member at SPF we have plenty for full global coverage.Sure glad we only bought 190 of them.
Probably none.How many did they lose in that storm? Total loss.
How many did they lose in that storm? Total loss.