Stop. Look around you. You’re feeling pretty comfortable right now, aren’t you? And why do you feel so comfortable? You’ve got friends, a loving family, good employment, and the carefree knowledge that your nation is not under any major threat.
There was a time when it wasn’t this easy. America was young, untamed, and downright unstable in it’s early years. But these were not the conditions that people thought that they should be living in. They knew that in order to provide a more secure nation for future generations, a stable, balanced government was necessary. Also needed was a well armed military. Not for attacking other nations, or for fighting back against attacks, but for making other nations not want to attack in the first place.
In revolutionary times, ground and infantry superiority was all that was needed to persuade other armies to stay away, however, in the twentieth century, ground control is nothing without air superiority, the ability to keep out unfriendly aircraft so that the infantry can do the ground work successfully. In the Spring of 1997, three aircraft supergiants; Lockheed-Martin, Boeing, and Pratt & Whitney unveiled a tool that would provide more than just air superiority, but instead would render air dominance.
The F-22 is the ultimate in air combat. It features the agility and fire-power of the now aging F-15 eagle, the speed and range of the U-2, and the invisibility of the F-117 and B-2 Stealth aircraft. The Raptor is the result of a long and costly process, utilizing, and making, cutting edge technology to form a radar-proof fighter. It all began back in 1977 with project "Have Blue" (pronounced haive).
Ben Rich, the lead engineer on the Have Blue project, recalls the day of the test in Nevada, August of 1977. "I check my watch. Eight in the morning. The temperature already in the nineties, heading toward a predicted high of one twenty F. Have Blue should be well inside the missile's radar track, heading for us. And in a few moments I spot a distant speck growing ever larger in the milky blue sky. I watch Have Blue through my binoculars as it flies at eight thousand feet... The radar dish atop the van hasn't moved, as if the power has been turned off. The cluster of missiles, which normally would be swiveling in the launcher locked on by radar to the approaching target, are instead pointing aimlessly (and blindly) toward distant mountains. The young sergeant stares in disbelief at the sightless missiles, then gapes as the diamond-shaped aircraft zips by directly above us. ‘God almighty,’ he exclaims, ‘whatever that thing was, sir, it sure is carrying one hell of a powerful black box. You jammed us dead.’"
However, there was no "black Box" on board the new aircraft. It was the aircraft itself that prevented the radar guided missiles from activating. The triangular shapes, a special screen over the engine intakes and vents, and radar-absorbent materials (RAM) over the entire craft made it appear as no more than a bird to any radar that could see it at all.
Next in the series of stealth aircraft came the famous B-2 bomber and F-117 fighter. These aircraft brought forth technologies such as spray on RAM, and infra-red disguises to prevent IR guided missiles from tracking and following them. Both of these aircraft were combat proven (and existence proven) during Desert Storm. Some of the drawbacks in Desert Storm was that the F-117 made a better bomber than an air to air fighter, and the F-15 Eagle, the main fighter of the U.S. and Allied forces, was too often shot down by IR and Radar guided missiles. So the government of the U.S. put out a contract for bids on an aircraft that could equal or better the F-15 in close range combat, but keep the invisibility of the stealth aircraft.
The result was not a fierce competition for the contract as usual, but instead a collaboration between Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, known for making the impossible possible, and Pratt & Whitney, the world leaders in supersonic engines since the SR-71 in the early sixties. As a product, the curtain was opened, literally, on the F-22, on April 9, 1997, just twenty years after Ben Rich was scoffed at for suggesting a radar-proof plane.
Air superiority will now fade back as America jumps into air dominance, the F-22 is said to be able to locate, jump, and destroy enemy aircraft before they even know that they’re being tracked. According to a spokesman from Lockheed-Martin, "The F-22's combination of stealth, integrated avionics, maneuverability, and supercruise (supersonic flight without afterburner) will give Raptor pilots a ‘first-look, first-shot, first-kill’ capability against the aircraft of any potential enemy."
Even as I type this, I know that I will never have to fear an assault from hostile nations, because unlike our forefathers, we have a new breed of defense. We have aircraft that increase our potential military strength while still protecting all Americans, including those who serve our nation by testing, flying, or coming in on the ground behind these state of the art aircraft.
Bibliography
Anonymous. "Have Blue." 4/7/1997.http://www.fighterplanes.com/F117/haveblue.html (1/12/1997)
Anonymous. "Specifications." 4/7/1997.http://www.fighterplanes.com/F117/specs.html
(1/12/1997)
Lockheed-Martin. "Untitled." 9/7/1997.http://www.lmasc.lmco.com/f22/news.html
(1/12/1997)
Rich, Ben R. "Untitled." 12/12/1996.http://www.ufomind.com/catalog/r/rich/
chapter1.html (1/12/1997)
