F-22 stars at Luke open house

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LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --   The Air Combat Command F-22 Raptor Demonstration Team will display the capabilities of the F-22 at the Luke Air Force Base Thunder in the Desert Open House March 21 and 22. 

The F-22 Demo Team performs precision aerial maneuvers, demonstrating the unique capabilities of the Air Force's high performance aircraft. ACC's F-22 Demo Team members also exhibit the professional qualities the Air Force develops in the people who fly, maintain and support these aircraft. 

The F-22 is the Air Force's newest fighter aircraft. Its combination of stealth, supercruise, maneuverability and integrated avionics, coupled with improved supportability, represents an exponential leap in warfighting capabilities. The Raptor performs both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions allowing full realization of operational concepts vital to the 21st century Air Force. 

The F-22A, a critical component of the Global Strike Task Force, is designed to project air dominance, rapidly and at great distances and defeat threats attempting to deny access to our nation's Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps. The F-22A cannot be matched by any known or projected fighter aircraft. 

A combination of sensor capability, integrated avionics, situational awareness, and weapons provides first-kill opportunity against threats. The F-22A possesses a sophisticated sensor suite allowing the pilot to track, identify, shoot and kill air-to-air threats before being detected. 

The F-22A has a significant capability to attack surface targets. In the air-to-ground configuration the aircraft can carry two 1,000-pound GBU-32 Joint Direct Attack Munitions internally and will use on-board avionics for navigation and weapons delivery support. In the future, air-to-ground capability will be enhanced with the addition of an upgraded radar and up to eight small diameter bombs. The Raptor will also carry two AIM-120s and two AIM-9s in the air-to-ground configuration. 

Advances in low-observable technologies provide significantly improved survivability and lethality against air-to-air and surface-to-air threats. The F-22A brings stealth into the day, enabling it not only to protect itself but other assets. 

The F-22A engines produce more thrust than any current fighter engine. The combination of sleek aerodynamic design and increased thrust allows the F-22A to cruise at supersonic airspeeds (greater than 1.5 Mach) without using afterburner - a characteristic known as supercruise. Supercruise greatly expands the F-22A's operating envelope in both speed and range over current fighters, which must use fuel-consuming afterburner to operate at supersonic speeds. 

The sophisticated F-22A aerodesign, advanced flight controls, thrust vectoring, and high thrust-to-weight ratio provide the capability to outmaneuver all current and projected aircraft. The F-22A design has been extensively tested and refined aerodynamically during the development process. 

The F-22A's characteristics provide a synergistic effect ensuring F-22A lethality against all advanced air threats. The combination of stealth, integrated avionics and supercruise drastically shrinks surface-to-air missile engagement envelopes and minimizes enemy capabilities to track and engage the F-22A . The combination of reduced observability and supercruise accentuates the advantage of surprise in a tactical environment. 

The F-22A will have better reliability and maintainability than any fighter aircraft in history. Increased F-22A reliability and maintainability pays off in less manpower required to fix the aircraft and the ability to operate more efficiently. 

The F-22 Demo Team is located at Langley Air Force Base, Va. The team consists of a demo pilot, a maintenance team, ground safety observers and narrators. The aircraft is one of the operational fighters from the 1st Fighter Wing, also based at Langley. 

The purpose of the Demo Team is to demonstrate the capabilities of the F-22, the competence of the U.S. Air Force, positively affect Air Force recruiting and retention and promote community relations. 

Background information can be found at these links: 

F-22 demo team: www.acc.af.mil/aerialevents/f22a/index.asp
Pilot bio: www.acc.af.mil/library/biographies/bio.asp?id=11935
F-22 Info: www.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=199 

Courtesy 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs and www.af.mil