Forum: General F-22A Raptor forum

One of the high maintenance tasks on the F-22 is the gap-filling using special caulking and other work on stealth coatings every time access panels are opened to keep the RCS signature within acceptable levels.

A possible long-term solution is to re-skin the jet where feasible with new panels that fit better to eliminate gaps, ala F-35 thereby eliminating the need for gap filling.. This wil require a new skin on the Raptor with fit tolerances matching those on the F-35. Sounds expensive but I don't see a way around the problem.

IMO, the F-22 would be a good candidate to try out extensive use of Carbon Nanotube Reinforced Polymer (CNRP) which is used to make the F-35 wingtip fairings. It is actually stronger, lighter and cheaper than CFRP and stealthy to boot, makes sense to try it on a mature platform so as not to impact the F-35 program with recertifcation issues at this point in time.The net effect would be a Raptor with an exterior that requires significantly reduced manhours to maintain.

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Cha-ching.

Although you might want to replace a few panels for corrosion reasons, the root cause of the problem was that some of the compartments were not supposed to have to be opened except on rare occasions. Problem is that they are having to be opened a lot because some basic simple parts were failing way more than they should. Fix those bad actors and you can reduce the maintenance time for finishes. Fuel pumps are one component that comes to mind.

arl8733 wrote:

Although you might want to replace a few panels for corrosion reasons, the root cause of the problem was that some of the compartments were not supposed to have to be opened except on rare occasions. Problem is that they are having to be opened a lot because some basic simple parts were failing way more than they should. Fix those bad actors and you can reduce the maintenance time for finishes. ---- ----- are one component that comes to mind.

You probably shouldn't be giving out details like that. We get a lot of suspiciously technical questions (from parts unknown) on this forum regarding fighter subsystems.

I think arl8733's comments concerning low mean time between failure on many Raptor parts are common knowledge. No need to worry about giving away state secrets in that area. By the way, there has been progress over the past several years in modifying many panels for easier removal and reinstallation. The Raptor will always be, however, a very, very maintenance intensive jet.

retchief70 wrote:

I think arl8733's comments concerning low mean time between failure on many Raptor parts are common knowledge. No need to worry about giving away state secrets in that area.

I was referring to his last sentence. I don't know if that particular detail is common knowledge, but there's no need to mention a specific component failing more often than expected. Trust me. With so many knowledgeable professionals communicating here (myself NOT included among them), this site is being monitored for every possible tidbit of information.

I'm not surprised that you would be an OPSEC hound 1st503rdsgt, and you are absolutely right.

I agree that it's better not to mention specific components. However, in this case the fuel pumps has been mentioned before and if I remember correctly, that was about 2-3 years ago (by AFA). They have since been replaced with a more reliable version.

Fuel pump reliability issues are common knowledge, and all offending pumps have since been replaced according to this site:

http://hatch.senate.gov/public/_files/F ... dFacts.pdf

The jet as whole has made major strides. F-35 materials trickling down to the F-22 has already happened and been publicly acknowledged also.

http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2011/ ... s-040611w/

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=6169019

and discussed on here before in detail.

http://www.f-16.net/index.php?name=PNph ... p;p=194531

Forum: General F-22A Raptor forum

Re-skin the Raptor?