F-22 Raptor

[guycates]

The Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor is the newest jet-fighter in the United States Air Force's arsenal. With its advanced technology the F-22A gives U.S. forces and allies an advantage that will last for years to come. Primarily an air superiority fighter, but has multiple capabilities that include ground attack, electronic warfare, and signals intelligence roles.



The United States Air Force considers the F-22 a critical component of the US strike force, and claims that the F-22 cannot be matched by any known or projected fighter aircraft. Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, Chief of the Australian Defence Force, said in 2004 that the "F-22 will be the most outstanding fighter plane ever built."



F-22 Raptor Specifications

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 62 ft 1 in
Wingspan: 44 ft 6 in
Height: 16 ft 8 in
Empty weight: 43,430 lb
Loaded weight: 64,460 lb
Max takeoff weight: 83,500 lb
Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 Pitch Thrust vectoring turbofans, 35,000+ lb each
Fuel capacity: 18,000 lb internally, or 26,000 lb with two external fuel tanks


Performance

Maximum speed:
At altitude: Mach 2.25 (1,500 mph)
Supercruise: Mach 1.82 (1,220 mph)
Range: 1,600 nmi (1,840 mi) with 2 external fuel tanks
Combat radius: 410 nmi (471 mi)
Service ceiling: 65,000 ft
Wing loading: 66 lb/ft²
Thrust/weight: 1.08 (1.26 with 50% fuel)
Maximum g-load: -3.0/+9.0 g


Armament

Guns: 1 × 20 mm (0.787 in) M61A2 Vulcan Gatling gun in starboard wing root, 480 rounds

Air to air loadout:
-6 × AIM-120 AMRAAM
-2 × AIM-9 Sidewinder

Air to ground loadout:
-2 × AIM-120 AMRAAM and
-2 × AIM-9 Sidewinder and one of the following:
-2 × 1,000 lb JDAM or
-2 × Wind Corrected Munitions Dispensers (WCMDs) or
-8 × 250 lb GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs

Hardpoints: 4 × under-wing pylon stations can be fitted to carry 600 US gallon Sargent Fletcher drop tanks or weapons, each with a capacity of about 5,000 lb.


Avionics

RWR (Radar warning receiver): 250 nmi or more
Radar: 125-150 miles against 11sq ft targets (estimated range)

[Fred flyfisher]

Your photo is really cool, It's an awesome aircraft.... too bad obama killed the project. F-22

[WVCoalMiner]

Too much HDR effect for me it almost looks fake like it was pasted into the photo.
Maybe a closer crop to bring it in closer would help.

[jdloniak]

Don't think it's HDR. I doubt an aircarft can stay still long enough for several shots. Looks like maybe a very far off picture that was zoomed in and just was too far to get a clear focused shot. Any how, still a great picture of the awesome firepower we have.

[WVCoalMiner]

No you can take a single shot and run Topaz adjust or Photomatix on it for a HDR effect
http://www.topazlabs.com/adjust/

[guycates]

I used my canon XSi 12/MP and my canon 75-300 5.6 zoom lens on full auto. I used used Adobe 6 to balance the picture and reduce the size 1.5/mp to 500 kb.
the jet was about 1 1/2 miles from the runway.
Here is another about 200ft from me.

[aropilot]

Here is a picture of the F-22 with a P-51 Mustang at one of the daily shows at Oshkosh 2008.
It was taken as a "newbie" (6 months) in photography with my XTi
I think I took about 300 pictures during that 3 day trip.

[WPCatfish]

Nice shot of a sleek looking aircraft. Got several shots of a loose formation of them with a P&S on vacation this summer in Virginia. They don't have a 'jet fighter whine' even when flying overhead, at first they only sounded like a distant airliner.