Deep modernization: from Raptor to Super Raptor
Leave can not be abandoned
F-22 aircraft paradoxical. Introduced into explantation back in 2005, it still remains the most powerful in terms of the sum of its capabilities. weapons gaining air supremacy. However, it is somewhat of a "loser". He was “lucky” to be born in the transitional period: when one cold war ended, and the other had not yet had time to start.
As a result, instead of hundreds of F-22s that were supposed to replace the F-15 Eagle, only 187 serial copies were built. To date, the production of "Raptors" is completed. And although the media reported on the possible resumption of the construction of new aircraft, we can say with full confidence that this will not happen. The Americans already have a lot of various military programs that cost hundreds of billions of dollars.
At the same time, even produced fighters could go into oblivion in the foreseeable future due to the plans of the Americans to drastically reduce the number of types fighters as part of the Air Force.
“I intend to reduce their number to four. It is important to understand to what extent the combination of aircraft will be correct. The F-22 will be replaced by the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter, which will fly alongside the F-35. F-15EX and F-16 will be in service ",
- said not so long ago, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General Charles Brown.
They called different terms for abandoning the Raptor, but, obviously, this is not the closest prospect. And plans can always be revised.
Modernization without modernization
The best evidence of this can be considered the recently announced plans to carry out a deep modernization of the F-22. Efforts in this direction have been made before. On November 5, 2021, the US Air Force and Lockheed Martin signed an agreement to modernize the entire fleet of Raptors.
It was about updating the avionics and software, finalizing the airframe and general aircraft systems, as well as replacing the radar-absorbing coating. And even earlier, in 2006, they launched a program of "structural" improvements to increase the life of the fighter.
However, despite all these initiatives, the aircraft remained with limited capabilities. In particular, the F-22 is not capable of effectively hitting moving ground targets. The fighter can take up to eight GBU-39 miniature bombs (Small Diameter Bomb). This is a very modern weapon with a flight range after separation from the carrier of more than 100 kilometers, but it is only capable of hitting stationary objects with coordinates known in advance.
The aircraft also does not have an optical-location station that allows you to detect an enemy in the sky at a great distance, without turning on the radar.
F-22 plus
Thus, the need for modernization is long overdue, and now the United States is closer than ever to realizing it. One of the items in a document recently released as part of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program calls for the submission of materials related to the installation of an optoelectronic system (IRST) that will detect air targets in the infrared range and track them. In addition, the aircraft must receive systems that would allow pilots to exchange data with UAVs and interact with them.
It is noteworthy that the installation of the IRST sensor was initially considered as an option in the Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program, within which the F-22 was created. However, neither the production aircraft nor even its YF-22 demonstrator received it. The reason is the desire to save resources.
In theory, the IRST installation will give the aircraft fundamentally new opportunities, since now the fighter will be able to detect air targets without fear of being unmasked when the radar is turned on. Its AN/APG-77 radar can operate in a low probability of interception (LPI) mode, which reduces the likelihood of being detected by an exposure warning station (SPO). However, it is hard to say how this will work in practice, given the presence of new open source software in Russia and China.
In other words, IRST will make the F-22 even less visible to the enemy. At the same time, it can in no way be considered as an alternative to airborne radar, if only because of the limited detection range. Simply put, the radar station was, is and will be the main way to detect air targets.
Transition difficulties
The planned modernization of the F-22 carries technical risks. Assuming that the IRST sensor is placed in a hanging container, as can be seen in the example of the F / A-18 Super Hornet Block III, then such a move would violate the fighter's carefully calibrated stealth.
Perhaps the Americans will choose the option with an embedded system, but here several problems arise at once.
First, it is not known whether such a technical possibility exists at all now.
Secondly, such a step will certainly affect the cost of modernization, increasing it, in all likelihood, by several times (which, however, given the military budget of the Americans, is hardly critical).
It is noteworthy that the F-411 belonging to the 22th Test Squadron was recently spotted with new hanging containers of an unknown type.
Their dimensions allow us to make a variety of assumptions, and it is far from a fact that we are talking about a new optoelectronic system. It is more likely that we have some kind of electronic warfare before us. Remotely, the containers resemble the EL / M-8222 electronic warfare station from the Israeli Elta, a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries. However, it is premature to draw any concrete conclusions.
So, there are several areas of modernization of the F-22. This:
– resource extension;
- updating the avionics;
- integration into the armament of new guided bombs and missiles.
In the latter case, we are talking, first of all, about the GBU-53 / B StormBreaker bombs, which have a range after separation from the carrier of about 100 kilometers and are capable of hitting moving targets. Such weapons will turn the F-22 into a full-fledged fighter-bomber.
Undoubtedly, its air-to-air weapons will also be updated. Most likely, in the next ten years, the States will abandon the famous medium-range AIM-120 AMRAAM: despite all the improvements, this is a rather old missile that is gradually becoming obsolete.
Another question is what will be instead of it? So far, it is difficult to answer it, but last year Boeing showed the concept of a two-stage rocket LRAAM (Long-Range Air-to-Air Missile) at the Air, Space & Cyber Conference.
Compared to AMRAAM and the Russian R-77, it will have to have higher speed, range and better maneuverability in the final section. However, so far this project is at an early stage, and besides, the Americans have alternative options.
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