The other part is that, at a cost of about $260m (£142m) each, the Raptor is designed to fight a potential Soviet enemy that no longer exists, and a Third World War that - if it ever happens - will be very different from what could have been imagined in 1981.

Some years ago there was a serious attempt in the Congress to scrap the whole project, especially as the revised cost exceeded four times the original estimate.

It failed largely because of pressure from military contractors and labour unions in states that will directly benefit from this multi-billion dollar programme.

The introduction of the new fighter jet comes in the same week that its manufacturer, Lockheed-Martin, announced a 40% rise in profits as it processes orders for its next generation of fighter aircraft, the F-35.

full story here
just saw this on BBC web site interesting that the U.S would spend so much money on a fighter designd to fight the Soviets.
a little late wouldnt you say....

Just because the media say it was designed to fight the soviets doesnt mean it wont be able to dick on other countries if the need be... so id say its not interesting at all.

i wanna ssee pics.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d7/F22_Raptor_large.jpg

f*** I'd love to go for a run in one of these...

last edited by HERMITech at 13:33:50 28/Oct/04

the majority of warfare now is going to be done from a distance (smart bombs and missiles) or through terrorism.

ground units only move in to do the mopping up/occupation.

this plane fits into the former.

The FA-22 stealth fighter can fly at 1500 km/h and still remain undetected by radar.

It fires precisely targeted smart bombs and can engage hostile aircraft far beyond the pilot's vision.

Designed in the 1980's. Yawn.

sif take 15 years to design and build but

How long till I can get one on Ebay ?

So they're paying US72 Billion for 277 Planes?

Guess they better build some more Tiberium harvesters.

just when you thought they couldn't possibly spend any more on defense (COUGH OFFENSE COUGH)...

the majority of warfare now is going to be done from a distance (smart bombs and missiles) or through terrorism.

Like Iraq? 300,000 troops + eleventy billion dollars of expenditure per second?!!@

Still using pilots?

idiots...

I hear there will be an F-35 at the avalon air show next year. looks like the F-22 cept for the exhaust and it's a bit smaller.

Can't wait to try it out in the next DC patch :P

The next generation of aircraft better be warp speed capable otherwise I'm going to be dissapointed.

i allready flew one...

I've been flying them since 1997

http://www.powercd.nu/temp/jetfighter3.gif

http://www.ludus.it/recensione/jetf144616271098/immagini_grandi/2.jpg

Coincidently I had to retire my JF3 t-shirt today.

last edited by Furgle at 18:49:50 28/Oct/04

wtf swear 2 god i read in world record book today that f-22's are 13billion each

You need to learn how to read then

well,

die

Coincidently I had to retire my JF3 t-shirt today.

Too many jagged edges?

I wear a helmet so I am immune to the latest danger to society, trollley bars.

the f-22 was designed in the early nighties.. maybe late 80's. it is designed for air supperiority, to take over that roll of the f-15.

the f-35 joint strike fighter, will eventually take the roll of ground-to-air

i believe australia has some raptors on order, and australia has also helped design the JSF(joint strike fighter)

the f-22 is the best fighter in the world basically... there isn't another plane in the world that could even come close to it. 2 of them can take out more than double there numbers in planes.


last edited by Paveway-3 at 19:48:30 28/Oct/04

last edited by Paveway-3 at 19:49:17 28/Oct/04

weren't B2's like 1 billion each (why they made so few of them)?

Also, paveway, i'd like to see that ground-to-air combat plane :) could be a bumpy ride

B2's get the award for coolest plane ever built (with SR-71 a close second)

They used them to do low and slow flights over the rag heads caves in afganistan just for the scare factor.

2 of them can take out more than double there numbers in planes.

thats nice... now how is that going to work in real life???

ie who will take on US?

China, or better still EU ;)

last edited by Furgle at 21:33:33 28/Oct/04

theres better ways to fight china then with jets...

the f-22 is the best fighter in the world basically... there isn't another plane in the world that could even come close to it. 2 of them can take out more than double there numbers in planes.

though in a dogfight, an Su37 would probably own it... but missiles have ruined the fun of a good old dogfight

thats nice... now how is that going to work in real life???

ie who will take on US?

No one, because due to spending policies that allow these aircraft they have by and large the best military in the world.

I dont know what these fancy numbers all mean, are these f-22's you're talking about the same thing as was in the first post (the Raptors or whatever)?

yes

2 of them can take out more than double there numbers in planes.

That's nothing - Tom Cruise took out like about 10 planes single-handedly in Top Gun, so the F-14 must still be the best plane ever!!!1 (PS, movies are real, right??)

But I do remember hearing a story from WWII of 6 Australian-made Wirraways taking on 100 Japanese aircraft. This was all I could find on Google:

20 Jan 1942 The RAAF sends 6 Wirraways against 100 Japanese aircraft over Rabaul. With only one Hudson and a damaged Wirraway surviving the onslaught, Wing Commander Lerew was ordered to attack the convoy. A later signal ordered Lerew to evacuate all aircrew and to assist the army with keeping the aerodrome open which led to the following signal being sent to Headquarters ‘nos morituri te salutamus’ We who are about to die, salute you.

what happen to the MIG :(

though in a dogfight, an Su37 would probably own it

you can't dogfight something that you don't even know is coming for you.

2 of them fly in a vertical line as oppose to the enemies squadron flying on a horizontal line

eg.

| | | | | | | | |
enemies



|

f22's |

the enemies can't see s*** cause the f-22's are stealth, the front f-22 turns it's radar on for a second, allowing it to get information on where the enemies are, this also allows the enemies to see it for a second, by this time the first f-22 has sent the information on it's radar screen back to the second one, and it launches missles simultaneously at each enemy.

bam enemies 0 raptors 1

they can only go stealth if they have their intenal bomb bays loaded only. which allows them to carry less

if they use external hard points they can't use stealth. too many reflective surfaces ^^

edit, damned right hand correct, you get the idea though

last edited by Paveway-3 at 16:23:52 29/Oct/04

last edited by Paveway-3 at 16:24:39 29/Oct/04

y cant we all just get along?

Like Iraq? 300,000 troops + eleventy billion dollars of expenditure per second?!!@

you would have noticed that the majority of targets were hit with precision weapons well before the troops started pouring over the borders of iraq... or maybe you didn't notice.

that's not the majority of warfare in iraq though, the majority of it is the ground occupation

that's not the majority of warfare in iraq though, the majority of it is the ground occupation

correct, as i said in my original post

ground units only move in to do the mopping up/occupation.

yeh, and I'm saying, that's the majority of warfare, not the smart bombs!

Whats the point in being invisible to radar if the countries you are bombing think that radar is the capital of Saudi Arabia.

yeh, and I'm saying, that's the majority of warfare, not the smart bombs!

It might take up the majority of the time, but the majority of the work is done by the bombs beforehand (albeit, very fast by comparision).

but imagine the ground warfare if they hadn't have bombed first? :>

It might take up the majority of the time, but the majority of the work is done by the bombs beforehand (albeit, very fast by comparision).

Only if your definition of work is 'destroy some targets'. I would argue that the real 'work' is done by the ground pounders.

yeh, and I'm saying, that's the majority of warfare, not the smart bombs!

That is the case now because that is all that is left there. The enemy in Iraq has been forced into terrorism tactics due to a far superior opponent. Due to this you have an enemy that has no infrastructure except its people.

The US has 100% air superiority in Iraq, and this plane is just the next step in keeping that in future conflicts.

Now I’m not saying that is the only area where the allies are superior, but it is the most extenuated.

Can't wait to try it out in the next DC patch :P

The next generation of aircraft better be warp speed capable otherwise I'm going to be dissapointed.

Its called Point of Existence a mod for bf:v :) kicks the crap out of DC

the allies best weapon are their aircraft carriers by leaps and bounds :p

Looks sexeh, now i wanna see footage of one killing something

haha it won't be any different to the fighters now, unless you can get footage what of i explained before..

jetfighter II featured the raptor as well, that's an early nineties game for you genteel folk

it's a sexy ass plane =)