![f 22 raptor cost f 22 raptor cost](https://theaviationgeekclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/F-22.jpg)
A pilot in a high-performing jet that flies at high altitudes must have disciplined breathing – forcing out carbon dioxide to breathe in oxygen. The intense Internet buzz created after the crash in Alaska could be making pilots hypersensitive – kind of like when the flu is going around, everyone thinks they have the flu. When it comes to the oxygen-generating system, the issue could be any number of things, he said. Hawley is the former commander of Air Combat Command, and still lives in the area. The only thing we have to constantly do is put it in some perspective." But I also feel the Air Force feels the same way.
"If they have a concern, we have a concern. "I never discount a single concern of one pilot, one soldier," he said. An officer who has spent 18 years in the air said he's never flown 30 or 40 hours a month, although that would be possible in wartime. Because veteran pilots have experience on fourth-generation fighters, they feel they don't need as many hours on the Raptor. In a background briefing during last week's media day, pilots and maintainers from the First Fighter Wing said the wing's mission capability rate was 80 percent, which is 6 percent above their goal and compares favorably to F-16s.Īs for training, they fly between six and 20 hours a month.
![f 22 raptor cost f 22 raptor cost](https://airplanesdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/lockheed-martin-f-22-raptor-spy-shots.jpg)
They also dispute that the aircraft is hampered by maintenance problems. Sprey said the number of hours should be much higher, but Langley pilots disagree. "Jeff Haney was one of the hottest sticks in the F-22 fleet and he was only getting eight to 10 hours a month," Sprey said. Haney was an instructor pilot and a mission commander. The official crash report showed he flew eight to nine hours a month for his final three months. The first and most important: Pilots become skilled through training, and Raptor pilots don't get enough training hours because of aircraft maintenance problems. In making his case that the F-22 "is a disaster for American defense," Sprey ticks off several factors. As a result, cost and schedule estimates "were not knowledge based - and have since changed significantly, with costs doubling and schedule slipping by more than seven years," the report states. The Raptor's modernization program began in 2003 because of a significant change- that it perform ground-attack sorties in addition to being an air superiority fighter.The change was considered necessary to meet current and future threats, the report says.īecause the Air Force had not anticipated the need for such a change, critical information wasn't available when the modernization began. But with the F-22, the Air Force did not expect any major shifts in its mission and did not plan for future upgrades. Updating the three older fighters, GAO says, began with the assumption that each be incrementally upgraded over time. This comes on the heels of an April GAO report that compared the F-22 modernization program with similar efforts involving the older F-15, F-16 and F/A-18 fighters. It recommends that the Air Force consider future improvements as separate, formal acquisition programs, complete with a business case and schedule. The program "has not had the management rigor or oversight on par with the $11.7 billion investment it entails," the report concludes. It says the Air Force underestimated the sheer scope of the project, both in terms of schedule and budget. Last week's GAO report focused on efforts to modernize the Raptor with enhanced radar, air-to-ground attack ability and other improvements.