F/A-22 changed to F-22


Message posted by Andre' M. Dall'au on December 16, 2005 at 14:19:31 PST:

USAF recognizes that F/A designation redundant and repetitive as many other USAF A/C have had dual personalities. As far as I'm concerned F/A sounded a little schizoid designed to help the marketers.

I'm still trying to figure why the F-117A is a fighter even though it doesn't have guns, the ability to easily carry AAM's and has a bomb bay.

Lockheed Martin's Raptor Undergoes IOC And A Name Change
>
> Defense Daily, 15 Dec 05
> author: Geoff Fein
>
>
> The 27th Fighter Squadron First Fighter Wing at Langley AFB, Va., is
> expected today to declare initial operational capability (IOC) for its
> Lockheed Martin [LMT] F-22 Raptors.
>
> Additionally, the Air Force changed the designation of the F/A-22 to F-22.
> The F/A is not an Air Force bit of nomenclature, Air Force Chief of Staff
> Gen. Michael Moseley told reporters at a briefing Tuesday.
>
> "We have F for fighters. In a sense of heritage to horizon, this airplane
> bridges that heritage to the horizon. We had F-111s that do multi-task;
> we had F-4s that did multi- task; we have F-16s that do multi-task; and
> this airplane, an F-22A, is just that," he said. "It does air-to-ground,
> it does air-to-air, but it is in the lineage of Air Force fighters, an F.
> We've decided on an A model to make it very clear to everyone that we are
> fielding, we are holding this program fixed and we are holding the cost of
> this program fixed, and our desire is to field the A model and be able to
> get the A model into the field and be able to get the A model into the
> combatant commander's portfolio as soon as we can."
>
> "You can take this a bit to an extreme about the F/A, because it's equally
> capable as a Rivet Joint; it's equally capable as a Compass Call; it's
> equally capable as all these other aircraft when you look at the wide
> variety of things that it does," Moseley added. "But we had no desire to
> call it an RC or an EW or an F/A/EW/RC-22 something. So the simplicity of
> this is the Air Force has fighters with the nomenclature of F which should
> be in the lineage of the rest of the fighters."
>
> Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne said it's imperative that the service
> maintain the F-22 Raptor line until the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF)
> becomes available.
>
> "There has been some receipt of the intention to maintain a warm F-22 line
> at least until we get a Joint Strike Fighter line," Wynne told reporters
> at the briefing.
>
> "What that means in terms of rate is still being determined, but I have a
> feeling that the rate will diminish so as to allow an extension. The
> specifics are still being worked out within the context of the president's
> budget," he said.
>
> Lockheed Martin also builds the F-35.
>
> While the first JSF won't take to the air until late 2006, Wynne said the
> service would like to see the aircraft go through its tests and be
> certified as to mission. "Speaking to the outcome as to how it goes, I
> would say this. I think right now that the Joint Strike Fighter has gone
> through tremendous analysis, as it should have because it is a very large,
> high-dollar program."
>
> "Right now the F-22 has gone through its tests and it's frankly exceeded
> our expectations on tests," he added.
>
> Wynne added that the Air Force would support a plan that would stretch out
> F-22 acquisition to 2010.
>
> "I don't know that it has been totally accepted by everybody, but
> certainly it fits the merits of my requirement that we have a warm, fifth
> generation fighter line," he said.
>
> Concerns over the cost of the F-22 have led to cuts in the requested
> numbers, all the way down from a one-time high of 600 aircraft down to the
> current 180.
>
> Wynne said he tries not to worry about numbers, but it seems a very bad
> signal if the service's sole fifth generation fighter line was not
> available to the president as an option.
>
> The F-22 has been flown againstall of the integrated air defense systems
> (IADS) the Air Force could simulate, Moseley said.
>
> "We've flown it against as many of the fourth and existing airplanes that
> we could fly against. We've flown it against the SAM (surface-to-air
> missiles) systems that we could fly against. We've dropped Joint Direct
> Attack Munitions (JDAM) off of it -- thousand pounders. We've dropped
> them sub-sonic; we've dropped them super-sonic. We've fired all the
> missiles off of it," Moseley said. "The airplane's performing in a
> magnificent manner, and it is today the finest air dominance airplane ever
> built. It is the personification of that fifth generation technology."
>
> "So the F-22A is the definition of that air dominance airplane to do
> air-to-ground against that IADS and to do air-to-air against the remaining
> piece of the flying threats," he added.
>
> The 183 number still gives the Air Force an opportunity to field seven
> squadrons, said Moseley. And with those seven squadrons the Air Force can
> get at the theater tasking and respond to that tasking.
>
> "And by looking at keeping the line now open, that fifth generation line
> open, and bridges over to the Joint Strike Fighter, we now have that
> connectivity from fifth generation to fifth generation," he added. "The
> seven squadrons are combat coded squadrons, not the training squadrons
> that are down at Tyndall [AFB, Fla.]."


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