Forum: General F-22A Raptor forum

How do the materials in the weapons bay cope with the intense temperatures of a rocket engine? In some photos you can see the flaming exhaust contacting directly with the internals of the bay. Aren't there wires in there?

F-16.net Sponsor

The side bays move the sidewinders entirely out of the bay before firing. I don't think any of the direct exhaust go into the bay.

This is the photo I was referring to.

The launch rail has a built in deflector meaning that the hottest part of the exhaust plume (the core) doesn't reach the bay.

I would summise that the airflow into the bay from the surrounding air provides an suitable air pressure "cushion"protecting the internal wiring from damage.

Yes, the bays are loaded with exposed wiring and plumbing. However, I would surmise that the actual motor ignition occurs outside of the bay and at no point comes into contact with the bay interior.

As Boff180 said, there is a deflector built into the back end of the rail to prevent any damage to the internal components. A pilot told me that this was installed because on the earlier test jets there was no shield and the rocket exhaust would severely damage the wiring when a missile was fired.

Pics of the deflector in question:

-

Good shot of the deflector. He is correct, the missile ignition happens on the rail and the most intense portion of the rocket blast is deflected away.

If this has been asked before then a thousand pardons upon my house but....is the seeker uncaged inside or outside the bay? I always assumed the 9L/M had to see the target to get a good self-track. And is that also the case for the 9X? Thanks

9X hasn't been integrated yet AFAIK; and besides, without an IRST system, the F-22 has no choice but to hang the IR missiles out long enough for the things to get their own lock (while also taking into account which side is being used).

IRST has nothing to do with it, the lack of LOAL capability is the issue.

F-22 weapons bay closeup MacArthur Airport May 25, 2012

Nice closeup pics em745 and checksixx thanks for posting those. Thumb

I couldn't get anywhere near that close, these photo's were taken on May 25, 2012 when the F-22 was parked at MacArthur airport in Ronkonkoma, NY prior to the Jones Beach airshow that weekend (don't pay attention to the date stamp - camera got confused when I changed the battery)! @#$%!!!

But AiM-9X (once integrated into the airframe) will have Lock On After Launch correct?

SpudmanWP wrote:

IRST has nothing to do with it, the lack of LOAL capability is the issue.

F-22 has no HMCS, so the 9X won't help with that either.

Although it's preferred, in theory ya don't...reeeeally need a helmet sight to shoot a HOBS missile. Don't know if the 9X has the same types of seeker tones as the 9L/M, but as long as the radar still has the target and the target hasn't maneuvered outside the seeker's FOV (which for the 9X is pretty dang big) then you can try to uncage and if the seeker goes to self-track, you should get a tone to tell ya that.

That said, this should not be attempted if friendlies may in the same piece of sky as your intended target.

You do not need HMCS. All you need is a target queue, either from an onboard source or an offboard one.

Forum: General F-22A Raptor forum

AIM-9 Ignition in Weapons Bay