WASHINGTON, July 24, 2012 – Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta is satisfied the Air Force has identified the cause of hypoxia-like symptoms 12 F-22 pilots suffered, and restrictions he placed on use of the fifth-generation fighter will be lifted gradually.
Air Force Secretary Michael B. Donley, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton A. Schwartz and other Air Force leaders told Panetta on July 20 that they are confident the root cause of the symptoms is the supply of oxygen to pilots and not the quality of oxygen, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said today at a news conference. Read the full article here.
The F-22 is the only fighter capable of simultaneously conducting air-to-air and air-to-ground combat missions with near impunity. This is accomplished with a never-before-seen standard of survivability even while facing large numbers of sophisticated airborne and ground-based threats.
In addition to being America’s most prominent air-superiority fighter, the F-22 evolved from its original concept to become a lethal, survivable and flexible multimission fighter. By taking advantage of emerging technologies the F-22 has emerged as a superior platform for many diverse missions including intelligence gathering, surveillance, reconnaissance and electronic attack.
The Raptor is operational today, protecting our homeland and combat ready for worldwide deployment. Two squadrons of F-22s are assigned to Air Combat Command’s 1st Fighter Wing at Langley AFB, Va. And two squadrons are assigned to the 3rd Wing at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. Raptor pilots and maintainers train at Tyndall AFB, Fla., while operational testing is conducted at Edwards AFB, Calif., and Nellis AFB, Nev. New F-22s continue to roll from the production line and will soon operate out of Holloman AFB, N.M., and Hickam AFB, Hawaii.
Specifications:
Length: 62 ft / 18.90 m
Height: 16.7 ft / 5.09 m
Wingspan: 44.5 ft / 13.56 m
Wing area: 840 sq ft / 78.04 sq m
Horizontal tail span: 29 ft / 8.84 m
Weight empty: 43,340 lb /19,700 kg
Maximum take-off weight: 83,500 lb / 38,000 kg
Internal fuel: 18,000 lb / 8,200 kg
with two extenal wing tanks 26,000 lb / 11,900 kg
Speed Mach 2 class
Range*: > 1,600 n. mi
Power plant: Two F119-PW-100 turbofan engines with two-dimensional thrust vectoring nozzles
Engine thrust: 35,000 lb / 15,876 kg
Source: Lockheed Martin
Recent News: Pentagon Sees Valve Fix to Solve F-22’s Oxygen Problem – July 24th, 2012