Aviation Specials — F-22 Raptor (2017)

Above left to right:

The  rst AIM-9

was  red from

Raptor 02 on July

25, 2000. This

photo shows the

 rst supersonic

 ring on July 25,

2002, with Lt Col

Chris Short at the

controls of Raptor

3. Lockheed
   Martin/ Derk
   Blanset
   Fred Knox
   conducts the  rst
   F-22 external fuel
   tank jettison while
    ying Raptor 02
   on April 22, 2004.
   Lockheed Martin/
   Kevin Robertson
   The F-22
   carries a special
   ‘compressed-
   carriage’ variant
   of the AIM-120C,
   developed to  t
   in the con ned
   weapons bay of
   the F-22. Lockheed
   Martin/Tom
   Reynolds
   Lt Col Evan
   Thomas
   completed the  rst
   separation test
   of a 1,000-pound
   GBU-32 Joint
   Direct Attack
   Munition on April
   23, 2004. This
   was a later test in
   December 2005
   with Maj John
   Teichert at the
   controls for the
    rst supersonic
   guided release of
   a JDAM. Lockheed
   Martin/Darin Russell
   Edwards
   maintainers load
   an inert AIM-120
   during EMD work.
   Note the aircraft
   carries the F/A-
   22 titles on the
   vertical stabilisers.
   USAF
   A rare shot of
   an EMD Raptor
   carrying AIM-120
   AMRAAMs on
   the external wing
   stations.

which joined the Combined Test Force at

Edwards in March 2000.

Delays in the delivery of the EMD

aircraft saw this phase being pushed to

the right, indeed it became clear that the

development test work would overlap

with the Dedicated Initial Operational Test

and Evaluation (DIOT&E) phase.

The  rst EMD aircraft (4001) was

 own hard and was retired in 2000. This

stemmed from the discovery of hairline

cracks in 4001 and 4002, although the

second aircraft resumed  ight-testing.

MOVING FORWARD

The Edwards test work with the eventual

employment of nine EMD Raptors was

tied to the major procurement milestones.

All eyes were on meeting test points and

the Pentagon Defense Acquisition Board’s

decision to award an initial batch of LRIP

aircraft. The programme had to achieve

use of the Block 3.0 software,  re the  rst

AMRAAM and get aircraft 4004, 4005 and

4006 into the test programme.

In the event, the  rst AIM-120C AMRAAM

shot came on October 24, 2000, and

aircraft 4006  ew in early 2001, but the

resulting decision to proceed with LRIP

was not taken until August 15, 2001, when

initial batch of 10 aircraft was approved.

Meanwhile, the PRTV aircraft were taking

shape. The  rst of these  ew on October

12, 2002. These aircraft were to be used

initially for DIOT&E, which was scheduled

to start in August 2002, but was delayed

until its commencement on April 29, 2004.

Such was the concurrency knock-on that

by this time, the  rst aircraft had already

been delivered to the  rst USAF squadron.

The 43rd Fighter Squadron, part of the

325th Fighter Wing, at Tyndall AFB, Florida,

received F-22A serial 01-4018/TY, on

September 26, 2003.

In the background, development test

work continued at Edwards. Avionics

issues including in- ight shut downs

were proving problematic, however on

December 27, 2005, the EMD phase was

concluded, by which time 12 combat-ready

F-22As had already been delivered!

RAPTOR^25

16-27 Metz First Flight C.indd 25 28/09/2017 14:53