F-22 design problems force expensive fixes

Leaky fuselage access panels at the top of Raptors, as well as problems with the plane’s core structure — particularly the forward boom, which supports the plane’s weight and must endure the stresses of high-G maneuvers — are among the latest in a series of problems for the jet.


F-22 design problems force expensive fixes
By Bruce Rolfsen - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Nov 13, 2007 6:19:34 EST

The F-22A Raptor can shoot down another jet before the bad guys even know they are in trouble. It can fly circles around any other military fighter plane on the planet.

But with a price tag of $130 million per plane — $330 million if you take into account research and development costs — critics wonder why millions more will have to be spent to fix corrosion problems and design flaws on some of the 104 stealth fighters delivered so far by the plane’s manufacturer, Lockheed Martin.

Leaky fuselage access panels at the top of the jet are leading to corrosion issues in many of the planes. Also, problems with the plane’s core structure — particularly the forward boom, which supports the plane’s weight and must endure the stresses of high-G maneuvers — must be fixed.

These are among the latest in a series of problems for the Raptor as it continues the transition from developmental test jet to operational fighter. Over the past year, another problem — overheating avionics — has been fixed.

An additional 79 F-22As will be added to the Air Force fleet over the next few years, bringing the total number of Raptors to 183. The latest milestone came Oct. 31, when the Air Force stood up a second operational F-22 squadron at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, the fourth overall. None of the latest structural or avionics issues has grounded the fleet, said Brig. Gen. C.D. Moore, who oversees F-22 upgrade and sustainment issues across the Air Force as commander of the 478th Aeronautical Systems Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. He logged about 100 hours as a Raptor test pilot before taking the Materiel Command desk assignment.

Despite the problems, Moore boasted that the most recent F-22 appraisal by the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center rated the jet as “suitable” for maintenance in real-world situations. In other words, most problems that arise can, as a matter of course, be fixed by maintenance squadrons at local bases, and the fighter is not breaking down on a regular basis.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2007/11/airforce_raptor_rust_071112w/



uhc comment: Quote of the day --> “What you see now is poor design and reliability.”

they were liquid cooled.. my boss Beverly was the best supervisor i ever worked for..

i liked the job but most of the previous floor supervisors of the company they bought , that had apparently put their company out of business out of business thru incompetence or worse, also ended up destroying our business to, our employee population plummeted by 2000 over 3 years to about 600... it was tragically sad.. a terrible loss to the community.. i could not believe they just let it hemorrhage to death.

but it was the parent company's only non union shop, so the workers had no
access to the problem solving process, if you tried to help solve a problem they shit on you really hard.. if they had had a union i feel we would have grown and prospered

during our orientation we were told if we started a union and ever had a strike.. the company would hold out long enough to make sure we would lose enough wages on the picket line to never make any raise we got on our paychecks...

The idea that US workers MIGHT have a better idea or a good fix - naw. Not us.


I guess that is why FOD damage is to terrible for the Raptor engine, and why the whole nav and comm systems shut down when a squadron crossed the Meridian.

damage is probably cause they pick up stuff outside the plane...

what good is radar invisisbility when the enemy hides in caves?
what good is supercruise speed, when our enemy's best weapon is a homemade IED?

the raptor makes me think of using the Space Shuttle in an effort to clean up the oil spill in San Fran Bay - totally incapable of close air support, long legs in one location, or dealing with the real enemy we face on a realistic basis.

In comparison with maneuverability? Seems that there are too many delicate electronics involved with the F-22. And the more complicated the maintenance, the more things go wrong.