Production of F/A-22 could stop soon

here is a quote form a news article

One defense consultant said Wednesday that if the Pentagon´s reported plan to reduce F/A-22 orders to about 160 planes is approved, production cuts would start taking effect after the 2007 budget year and production could end by about 2010.

Reports that the Pentagon wants to cut F/A-22 purchases come little more than a week after one of the high-tech fighters crashed on takeoff at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. Twenty-eight Raptors remain grounded as a safety precaution with no timetable for returning to flight.

The Air Force, Thompson said, is "very upset" about the Pentagon budget decision, which was approved Monday by Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz. "The senior Air Force leadership believes they cannot preserve global air superiority without the F/A-22."

read the full story

this follows an F-22 crash on December 21st 2004

The pilot of a Raptor stealth fighter managed to eject Monday afternoon shortly before the plane crashed at Nellis Air Force Base.

The pilot was taken to a nearby hospital, Air Force officials said. The pilot's name and condition were unavailable.
The F/A-22 crashed about 3:45 p.m., military officials said.

A huge plume of black smoke could be seen near one of the runways on the base near Las Vegas.
The aircraft, considered the Air Force's premier fighter, was assigned to the 422 Test and Evaluation Squadron at Nellis.
[\quote]

read the full article

pics of the crash

So,what caused the crash? I couldn't find it in the article.

Tim
ATS Director of Counter-Ignorance

I dont think the official report on the cause of the crash has been released yet - there were some theories being bounded around about the flight control systems failing or having a software bug but nothing officials been announced (and it probably wont for a while yet).

Originally posted by RichardPrice
I dont think the official report on the cause of the crash has been released yet - there were some theories being bounded around about the flight control systems failing or having a software bug but nothing officials been announced (and it probably wont for a while yet).

I don't know what caused the crash, but all Raptors have been cleared to fly again.

I had seen the video, it was probably a pilot and FBW error. The tail starts oscillating out of control on approach resulting in the crash.

The one that crashed was an early testing model. The new production models are different and have their programing errors solved.

It truly would be a pitty if the F/A-22 will get canned...

Originally posted by GrOuNd_ZeRo
It truly would be a pitty if the F/A-22 will get canned...

The "soon" mentioned in the article is actually a few years. Current plans are to build a minimum of 160 aircraft.

i thought it was up to 270??? i remember reading the initial amount was 1400 like thats gonna happen. it would be nice though if we could make 5000!!! funny the way i see our economy working we should be happy if we can make 50

We could make 700, the number the Air Force originally had wanted, if Congress would provide the money (which they could). The economy hasn't made this country totally broke, the way some people seem to believe.

They'd just have to cut funding to certain programs already in place is the problem, which might make a big stink.

Jetsetter, your talking about the wrong one, your thinking of the F-22 that was kept going up & down, up & down with its landing gear upo until it nailed the ground. The one Stealth Spy is referring to is the one that the plane mysteriously blew up before it left the ground.

160...thats it!

They keep lowering it, it is however still siting at the 276 planes, but some consideration is being put on lowering it to 180, but keeping the ability to start up its production line in case we need more of them later on.

Also, the site you posted is not a government one, its just a fan-fare type of a site. I'll believe it when its on an official site.

Never fear.
The future option to build more is there, despite the initial order and funds being allocated for only those 160+.



seekerof

Originally posted by ghost
So,what caused the crash? I couldn't find it in the article.
Ignorance

on a more a serious note, i think it was a software crash.

check this quote from the washington post

Washington Post.


The Air Force originally wanted to see the plane's sophisticated avionics, or electronics gear, achieve 20 hours of uninterrupted flying time without a software failure. When the plane couldn't achieve that, the Air Force changed its goal to flying five hours without a software failure. As of January, the plane could average no better than 2.7 hours.

In addition, the plane's microprocessor is an obsolete model no longer manufactured. The Air Force plans to switch to a newer type, including one created for the upgraded F-16 fighter jet, a type of plane far older than the F-22.

It's no surprise, then, that watchdog groups like the Project on Government Oversight are asking the Pentagon to put this sick puppy of a program to sleep.

source

aah..i was right, searched a bit on google when i found this ...

Air Force official cites flight software in Nellis crash

A glitch in the software for controlling flight probably caused an F/A-22 Raptor stealth fighter jet to crash on takeoff last month at Nellis Air Force Base, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John P. Jumper said Wednesday.

Jumper, who had just completed his third qualifying flight of a Raptor at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., emphasized in a conference call with reporters that the investigation into the crash continues and that a malfunction of the plane's software flight-control system is a preliminary assessment of what caused the crash.

"The impact on the program is one that we will take to heart with regard to the flight controls and the software that controls the flight controls," Jumper said by telephone.

"It's a fix that is now well-understood and in place, and I don't think it's going to have any impact on the program because these things are the sort of things that we expect to happen," he said.

Later, Jumper explained that while the assessment was not final, Air Force officials felt they had enough confidence in "the fix" to allow the more than 30 Raptors at Nellis, Tyndall and California's Edwards Air Force Base to resume flying Jan. 6 after they had been grounded for two weeks.

"The first look is that it was flight-control related. ... It looks like it's something that we can understand. As you know, we're flying the airplane again so we think it's pretty well-understood," said Jumper, who has logged more than 4,700 hours at the controls of nine different aircraft including F-4s, F-15s, F-16s and now the F/A-22 Raptor.

The pilot in the Nellis crash has been described by Air Warfare Center commander Maj. Gen. Stephen Goldfein as a highly experienced, decorated combat pilot with 60 hours flying time on the air-superiority warplane and 2,000 hours on other aircraft. The pilot, whose name has not been released, ejected safely before jet slammed into the runway during takeoff on Dec. 20.

"I was trying to make sure that my mind was not about a mile behind the airplane," he said, adding later, "You have such incredible situational awareness around you, it's different than anything this old fighter pilot has ever seen before."

full article

Another pic of the dead bird

WOW, amazing!

Who ever thinks Americans are overly patriotic needs to take a look at Stealth Spy.

The only person who thinks the Indian AF can conquer all.

i think I have seen you post that same picture around a dozen times, get over it. The F/A-22 is the best, and all you can do is show off the experimental SU-47 that will never enter service.

Tone down on the jealousy please.

Originally posted by Murcielago
WOW, amazing!

Who ever thinks Americans are overly patriotic needs to take a look at Stealth Spy.

The only person who thinks the Indian AF can conquer all.

i think I have seen you post that same picture around a dozen times, get over it. The F/A-22 is the best, and all you can do is show off the experimental SU-47 that will never enter service.

Tone down on the jealousy please.

oh..come on ..cant you take a joke...and besides what the heck has this gotta do with the Indian AF ????

Here's some good news to cheer u up

F/A-22 resumes flying at Tyndall after Dec. 20 Nevada crash
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- All F/A-22 Raptors were cleared to resume flying Thursday for the first time since the new stealth fighters were grounded after a Dec. 20 crash in Nevada, Air Force officials said.

Tyndall is the Air Force's only training base for Raptor pilots. Thirteen of the service's 28 F/A-22's are based here.

They were grounded as a precaution after the crash at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. Safety and accident investigation boards have not completed their work, but senior Air Force leaders believe the Raptor can be flown safely based on preliminary results.

"We have confidence in our current flying procedures, and any lessons learned from the Nellis incident will be applied to the F/A-22 program here," said Brig. Gen. Jack Egginton, commander of Tyndall's 325th Fighter Wing.

source

[edit on 9-2-2005 by Stealth Spy]

two crashes in 8 years and the raptor is failed to you stealth spy?

Originally posted by namehere
two crashes in 8 years and the raptor is failed to you stealth spy?

when did i say so ????????

i am simply posting what YOUR american media writes