Forum: General F-22A Raptor forum

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYEx9BiJNfE

Crying or Very sad

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Its so sad

Maybe in the nearby future assembly lines in FWTx will be again filed up with some newest cutting edge revolutionary version of that wonder bird, maybe containing 6th generation fetures including some airframe modifications.. who knows.. Super Raptor Cool

one day. Anyway.. they should build at least another 300.

They should have built all 700. With an additional 500 Block 35 Raptors the AF wouldn't have needed the JSF and the Navy could have just RFP their own. Sure the F-22 cant carry a JSOW internally, but the F-35 can't launch one from 50,000 ft+ @ 1.6M+. Oh and then economies of scale would drive the Raptor per unit cost to around 150mil or less (then year dollars). too late, I know, but I am just really mad that they axed that program, same with the B-2. Was supposed to be a 200 unit contract and Northrop was given a "blank check" to develop the "best bomber the world has ever seen"... Oops, now they only bought 20. Of course they cost 2 billion when all that RnD gets lodged into 20 airframes! Meanwhile the B-1s continue to be hangar queens and the B-52s are eyeballing their 49th birthday (factory closed in 1967). Sure I rode in a 57 year old P-51 once, but that was a flying museum piece that likely never saw combat (rolled out of the factory July of 45), not a SAC front line deterrent. Sorry, I just get upset about chopped up productions.

Well at the rate the F35 program is going, theres hope for more F22.

Production wrapping up...

...for now Twisted Evil

I think the Raptor was before its time. Expect more once the bugs (and liberals) are worked out.

Ha! Know one of the guys in that vid. Mike Crawford. Smart guy,good guy, didn't work with him often but when I did he was good to work with and a good guy to crack a beer with.

sprstdlyscottsmn wrote:

They should have built all 700. With an additional 500 Block 35 Raptors the AF wouldn't have needed the JSF and the Navy could have just RFP their own. Sure the F-22 cant carry a JSOW internally, but the F-35 can't launch one from 50,000 ft+ @ 1.6M+. Oh and then economies of scale would drive the Raptor per unit cost to around 150mil or less (then year dollars). too late, I know, but I am just really mad that they axed that program, same with the B-2. Was supposed to be a 200 unit contract and Northrop was given a "blank check" to develop the "best bomber the world has ever seen"... Oops, now they only bought 20. Of course they cost 2 billion when all that RnD gets lodged into 20 airframes! Meanwhile the B-1s continue to be hangar queens and the B-52s are eyeballing their 49th birthday (factory closed in 1967). Sure I rode in a 57 year old P-51 once, but that was a flying museum piece that likely never saw combat (rolled out of the factory July of 45), not a SAC front line deterrent. Sorry, I just get upset about chopped up productions.

Had they bought 700 of them, I suspect the price would've gotten down to the $90-100m range(and possibly lower). They were already below $150m, with the small buy, as it was.

Active Member Joined: Jun 01, 2004 - 08:55 AM Posts: 134

Sad. Just sad.

How far along is the F-35 again? Bang Head

wrightwing wrote:

sprstdlyscottsmn wrote:

They should have built all 700. With an additional 500 Block 35 Raptors the AF wouldn't have needed the JSF and the Navy could have just RFP their own. Sure the F-22 cant carry a JSOW internally, but the F-35 can't launch one from 50,000 ft+ @ 1.6M+. Oh and then economies of scale would drive the Raptor per unit cost to around 150mil or less (then year dollars). too late, I know, but I am just really mad that they axed that program, same with the B-2. Was supposed to be a 200 unit contract and Northrop was given a "blank check" to develop the "best bomber the world has ever seen"... Oops, now they only bought 20. Of course they cost 2 billion when all that RnD gets lodged into 20 airframes! Meanwhile the B-1s continue to be hangar queens and the B-52s are eyeballing their 49th birthday (factory closed in 1967). Sure I rode in a 57 year old P-51 once, but that was a flying museum piece that likely never saw combat (rolled out of the factory July of 45), not a SAC front line deterrent. Sorry, I just get upset about chopped up productions.

Had they bought 700 of them, I suspect the price would've gotten down to the $90-100m range(and possibly lower). They were already below $150m, with the small buy, as it was.

I figured the unit price would have dropped to that range once 700 were bought. Every revolutionary program has been plagued with cost issues. It isn't just the Raptor. These liberals just need to pick up a few books on the development of the F-X or something.

Time to re-open the line and make some money off international customers.

A hanky for those who've lost their dreams of a thousand Raptors.
Maybe they should have named you Phoenix so out would be reborn from your ashes.
Good bye old friend. We'll miss you.

TSFG Cheers

After reading the article on the front page of this website about how the F-35 has so many problems, I can't help but wonder why the heck they didn't keep the line open, and build a few more Raptors. The F-22 obviously has less problems, as most have been worked out over the last 20 years of developement.

I'm really starting to wonder about the feasability of the f-35.

It's starting to remind me of the Edsel.

F-22 lines are shut down... and yet F-15, F-16, F/A-18 lines keep rolling...

sprstdlyscottsmn wrote:

F-22 lines are shut down... and yet F-15, F-16, F/A-18 lines keep rolling...

The F-18 is a workhorse. Not the fastest, not the slowest, or the prettiest, or the ugliest, she's the girl you thought was cute enough to go on a date with, and then fell in love. The USN **had** to keep the F-18 line going. What were they to do once the F-14 tooling was turned melted down into plows? The ATF was on track to take nearly 2 decades to make it to the flight lines -- that didn't encourage the Navy in an era of declining funds to start up its own NATF -- especially after the A-12 fiasco; and the, what is now,the JSF wasn't going to be ready for nearly 10 years after the F-22. The F-18 had to be kept going.

The good die young, and the F-22 is no exception. Maybe Boeing can make use of the preserved tooling in its next gen fighter -- which they say that evolutionary is better than revolutionary.......

Edit: The F-15 and F-16 lines are printing presses for $$$, and jobs; why let Typhoon and socialist Europe scoop up the crumbs of the US ending all fighter production?

Forum: General F-22A Raptor forum

The last Raptor - no. 10-4195