Aerospace Daily September 16, 2002
Air Force mulling new designation for F-22 Raptor
By Rich Tuttle
Changes in technology and doctrine are prompting the Air Force to consider changing the designation of the Raptor fighter from F-22 to F/A-22, an Air Force spokeswoman said.
The change may be announced Sept. 17 at the annual Air Force Association convention in Washington.
"Right now, we're considering [a] change in the designation of the F-22" to F/A-22, a designation like that of the Navy's Hornet, F/A-18, which has the ground attack mission as well as the air-to-air mission, the spokeswoman said.
The change, said Capt. Jessica Smith, would "reflect better the multimission capability that the F-22 has today and how it fits into the big picture environment." She read a statement that said, "Due to changes in the technology and the emerging Air Force doctrine, the Raptor of today is a far cry from the fighter envisioned when the program was first planned" in the 1980s.
"Developments in the technology, especially the fire control radar and integrated avionics, but also ... the advent of smaller, very precise munitions, create a far more powerful air-to-ground strike system. Also, [as] our ... concept of operations for employing the F-22 ... matures, we will employ the system to enable other systems, including the F-117 and the B-2, [and] also ground and naval forces, to achieve their objectives more swiftly and decisively."
So, she said, "the Raptor has been transformed, along with a lot of [Defense] Secretary [Donald H.] Rumsfeld's priorities, and it's kind of [been] transformed into a multimission joint system. And that redesignation would increase the focus on that transformation and the multimission role."
Asked if air-to-ground capabilities would be tested during the F-22's initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) phase, which might begin next April depending on progress of developmental testing, Smith said, "that's not necessarily a yes or no answer."
At the moment, she said, "we don't have the full capability for the air-to- ground. It's inherent in the jet, but not the full capability. ... So [in] initial [operational test and evaluation] testing, we're not necessarily going to test the air-to-ground, but eventually, as the spiral [development] starts to go through, and we get the capability in the aircraft to its full capacity, then we will start testing it."
Senior aircraft analyst Richard Aboulafia of the Fairfax, Va.-based Teal Group said the designation change is justified, given recent technological advances that enable manufacturers to introduce additional capabilities more easily.
"You could have a fairly sophisticated strike capability for under $ 1 billion; certainly more capability than the F-117 stealth fighter, and probably a capability that approaches the F-15 [Strike Eagle] E model," he said.
Two technology advances have made that possible, he said, echoing the Air Force's statements: improved software and the miniaturization of weapons.
"By changing the software, you can change almost anything. You can change the radar. You can change an airframe's optimization. You can change the flight controls," he said.
And "weapons have become so miniaturized that they can fit inside a bomb bay and you can still have a potent impact," he said.
John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, said he's not convinced a designation change is warranted.
"They're certainly going to be able to improve air-to-ground with Small Diameter Bomb, but unlike the F-16, which has not been re-designated the 'F/A-16,' you cannot pave the underside of the F-22 with munitions," he said. "The thing has an inherently small munitions [carrying] capability."
Pike said the F-22 is "the first pure air superiority aircraft that the Air Force has bought since the 1950s. I think the Air Force is just going to have a really hard time squeezing a number of bombs into the internal bays of this thing to give it a meaningful air-to-ground capability ... making the claim highlights the falsity of the claim."
Gregg Caires, a spokesman for F-22 prime contractor Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, said he wasn't aware of any upcoming announcement, but added that Air Force Secretary James G. Roche and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John P. Jumper will be available to answer reporters' questions at Lockheed Martin's booth at the convention on Sept. 17.
Copyright 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. www.mcgraw-hill.com
