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The last manned fighter aircraft in the USAF
The last manned fighter aircraft in the USAF
Entered service 2003
Crew 1 men
Dimensions and weight
Length 18.92 m
Wing span 13.56 m
Height 5 m
Weight (empty) 14.36 t
Weight (maximum take off) 27.21 t
Engines and performance
Engines 2 x Pratt & Whitney F119-P-100 turbofans
Traction (dry / with afterburning) 2 x ? / 155.69 kN
Maximum speed > 2 500 km/h
Armament
Cannon 1 x M61A2 20-mm cannon
Missiles 4 x AIM-120C AMRAAMs, 4 x AIM-9M/X Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. GBU-32 joint directed air munition, AGM-88 HARM
Bombs GBU-22 Paveway III laser guided bombs
Information from:
http://www.military-today.com/aircraft/f22_raptor.htm
I am wondering are there any other similar aircraft under development around the world?
No way!
She will not be the last manned USAF bird. USAF is dominated by too many pilots in command who will never accept UAV's and RPV's fully stealing their fun. You can get a drone to do many things and even outfly manned aircraft, but you cannot make it think or maneuver like men do.
I look forward to the day USAF and Navy stack her best fighter pilots up against wargames with these drones. Should be interesting losses on both sides to learn from. All aircraft being equal, the manned bird will not be able to maneuver as wildly as the unmanned. But, the unmanned bird cannot respond to changes in combat the way the human mind can do.
Those who push for unmanned aircraft replacing pilots are simply not pilots. The Air Force is run by pilots still, thankfully. It is her command tradition to create pilots, shelve them, and create more new pilots so that almost everyone possible is a pilot. The UAV's and RPV's have essentially advanced and smart cruise missile purposes over many dimensions and new possibilities, but never full dominance of the sky.
The F22 is an awesome bird, but not the last; Just the first of a new generation. Where ever would the military industrial complex be if aircraft manufacturers no longer made manned aircraft? Me thinks American enemies push for this technical agenda a little, too.
This reminds me of the debate over whether we should continue to go to the expense of sending humans into space. Or can robots do the job just as well?
Well, in answer to that question I'll just ask whether a robot could have done that most difficult repair to the solar panel up there on the ISS?
A space walk, I might add, that was stunning. Probably the most sophisiticated and yet including some of the most basic skills employed by humans since the dawn of civilization.
Yep, I agree with the CinC, humans are going to be sitting in those birds for a long time to come -- and a little longer.
Anyway, can you imagine the howl from the airline industry if they had to start footing more of the bills for pilot training!?
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