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Maximum speed, without external weapons, is estimated to be Mach 1.82 in supercruise mode;[51] as demonstrated by General John P. Jumper, former US Air Force Chief of Staff, when his Raptor exceeded Mach 1.7 without afterburners on 13 January 2005.[52] With afterburners, it is "greater than Mach 2.0" (1,317 mph, 2,120 km/h), according to Lockheed Martin; however, the Raptor can easily exceed its design speed limits, particularly at low altitudes, with max-speed alerts to help prevent the pilot from exceeding them.
Originally posted by jkrog08
reply to post by Eurisko2012
Yea, it is called "Supercruise", it is what separates the Raptor from everything else. The F22 is the worlds first gen 5 fighter.
Originally posted by jkrog08
reply to post by Eurisko2012
Yea, it is called "Supercruise", it is what separates the Raptor from everything else.
Originally posted by dragon72
Actually supercruise is defined as not only being to cruise supersonically without afterburners but also to be able to break the sound barrier without afterburners. The first part is easy, it's been done for years but the last part is unique to the F-22. It actually takes a lot of energy to get through that trans-sonic region between 0.9 and 1.1 Mach which - before the Raptor - required afterburners.
Originally posted by dragon72
Actually supercruise is defined as not only being to cruise supersonically without afterburners but also to be able to break the sound barrier without afterburners. The first part is easy, it's been done for years but the last part is unique to the F-22. It actually takes a lot of energy to get through that trans-sonic region between 0.9 and 1.1 Mach which - before the Raptor - required afterburners.
F-22 testing marks the first time in history a fighter has flown supercruise, sustaining speeds of Mach 1.5 or greater without using afterburner, achieved at a low power setting, and at less than 275 flight hours in the testing process.
In the context of the F-22 Raptor, supercruise is defined as the ability to cruise at speeds of one and a half times the speed of sound or greater without the use of afterburner for extended periods in combat configuration. In fact, once operational, the F-22 will be able to fly large portions of its combat missions in supercruise mode, a key element to the aircraft's air dominance role.
"Sustaining the target Mach was not difficult for the Raptor," said Col. C.D. Moore, Combined Test Force commander, at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. "The difficulty was keeping the Raptor from going faster than the target speed. Yesterday the airplane demonstrated that it can achieve awesome speed, flying above 1.5 Mach at a low power setting, for a sustained period of time. No other fighter in the world can do that."
From what I am reading, what makes the F22 unique regarding supercruise is that it can remain in supercruise for very long periods of time and during normal combat operations due to the fact that the engines are highly efficient or something like that.