Forum: General F-22A Raptor forum

Last edited by delvo on Apr 16, 2012 - 07:59 AM; edited 2 times in total

In some pictures of F-22s with open empty weapon bays, the ones in the belly have three large white rectangles apiece, side by side with the middle one being offset forward from the others. I would presume that those are the AMRAAM carriers. In other pictures, there's just one white rectangle like that per bay, and it's the one on the outside, where sketches indicate that there would still be an AMRAAM if the plane were carrying a pair of JDAMs or sets of SDBs. Each pair of white rectangles closer to the middle of the plane is gone, and it's in the spots where bombs apparently would go sometimes instead of AMRAAMs. I think I can see something else instead that looks like it could be meant to hang heavy objects from, about the same length as the white rectangles but black and skinnier with protrusions sticking out sideways at the front and back... and only one per pair of missing white rectangles.

Does this mean that the outer two white rectangles are permanently built-in AMRAAM carriers, and the inner four are attached on removable adapters which hold a pair of AMRAAM carriers apiece and hang from the same built-in things where bombs would otherwise go?

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You are correct on most of it. In the shot with only 2 AMRAAM racks you can see the bomb racks. These are the JDAM/SDB hardpoints. As I recall, All hardpoints are removeable.

Last edited by em745 on Apr 16, 2012 - 10:18 PM; edited 1 time in total

delvo wrote:

In some pictures of F-22s with open empty weapon bays, the ones in the belly have three large white rectangles apiece, side by side with the middle one being offset forward from the others. I would presume that those are the AMRAAM carriers.

Referred to as the "AVEL" launchers (AMRAAM Vertical Eject Launcher).

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ ... eapons.htm (3rd paragraph)

Excerpt: "The AVEL is very stiff in order to control missile movement in the weapons bay and supply the proper ejection forces on the missile. The AVEL, which is made mostly of aluminum, has a nine-inch stroke, and ejects the missile out of the bay at more than 25 feet per second, with a force of 40Gs. The long stroke and high velocity are required to safely separate the missile from the aircraft in all combat conditions."

delvo wrote:

Does this mean that the outer two white rectangles are permanently built-in AMRAAM carriers

No. All six are removable:

-

OK, with all 6 AVELs being removable...

Why did they make the outer ones removable? I haven't heard of any other kind of weapon being planned for that spot, and not many would fit.

How many built-in attachment sites are there for the 6 AVELs to attach to? Is it 6, so they're all 1:1, or 4 with the inner ones holding 2 AVELs apiece? If it's 4, then the inner 2 are the ones that sometimes carry bombs instead of pairs of AMRAAMs, which is pretty simple; if it's 6, then that means the part of the bay where 1 JDAM or set of SDBs fits has 2 sites on the ceiling to hang it from. Would it hang from one while the other sits empty, or go on another kind of adapter that straddles both sites on the ceiling?

Speaking of AVEL, the rumor is that the F-22 will be capable of carrying 8 120D's. Are two going to be mounted to a single launcher?

??? The D is the same size as the C7, so I HIGHLY doubt they are going to redesign the bay to fit 4.

They make all the AVEL's removable for parts compatibility and maintenance reasons.

Looking at the image, I don't think you could fit any more in the main bays. The cheek bays, maybe?

Thanks, I had figured the prospect of eight 120D's was only the wet dream of some pilots somewhere but I wasn't sure.

The side pockets can only hold Sidewinders. The idea of 8 missiles must have been based on the total, Sidewinders plus AMRAAMs.

(Of course, that doesn't tell me how the belly bays switch between carrying 2 items apiece and carrying 3 items apiece...)

Last edited by SpudmanWP on Apr 18, 2012 - 12:30 AM; edited 1 time in total

When the AMRAAM evolved from the AIM-120B to the AIM-120C, the fins got smaller which allowed them to be placed closer together.

I suppose if they developed a folding fin version you "might" be able to pack 4 in a bay.

Here is the A/B

Here is the C (notice the "clipped" fins)

count_to_10 wrote:

Looking at the image, I don't think you could fit any more in the main bays. The cheek bays, maybe?

Alas, no. I suspect that a Stinger-esque weapon could be packed into the cheek weapons bays in multiples, but the only way a Raptor can gain more BVR shots is with external hardpoints and the ensuing RCS penalty.

They could always revive my personal fav - the AIM-152 Smile

http://www.f-16.net/f-16_forum_viewtopi ... dradm.html

SpudmanWP wrote:

They could always revive my personal fav - the AIM-152 Smile

http://www.f-16.net/f-16_forum_viewtopi ... dradm.html

A two stage long range missile?
So, the idea would be that you have a booster stage that sends the missile into a ballistic trajectory toward the target, then ignite the second stage for maneuverability once it gets within a certain range?

Say, what would you guys say about an X-ray projector warhead on one of these long range missiles? Twisted Evil

It can be done with current technology.

That was the plan.

With gravity doing all the work in the mid-range, that left the remaining motor to be used or TV enabled endgame. The coasting inbound missile was also cooler and would not give the enemy MAWS much of a chance to detect it in time. With it's tube-enclosed body, the GD AIM-52 version could be pack very tightly in the F-22. Imagine 6-8 PER main bay and 2-4 medium range version PER sidewinder bay!! They also packed dual mode (radar & IIR) seekers.

See why I like them so much?

x-Ray missile... someone is having "Star Frontiers" flashbacks Wink

Forum: General F-22A Raptor forum

Hardpoints in the main bays