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Inside: Lethal Mix: Stealth, Speed & Agility What Sensor Fusion Delivers Raptor: The Pilot’s Perspective Program Suppliers State-by-State F-22 Program Milestones Importance of Air Dominance

[ Special Report ]

Air Dominance With The F-22 Raptor

The first U.S. stealth aircraftable to defend i t se l fagainst enemy fightersand to a t tack h ighlydefended targets in the

daytime. The first U.S. aircraft tocruise at Mach 1.5 and faster withoutafterburner. And the first U.S. fighterto use vectored thrust, which adds toits unmatched agility. These areamong the unique capabilities of theU. S. Air Force’s F-22 Raptor air domi-nance fighter. But even more revolu-tionary is the F-22’s advanced inte-grated avionics suite, which fusesdata from multiple sensors to pro-

vide the pilot unparalleled situation-al awareness and a clear advantageover adversaries (see story on page 6).

A potent force multiplier, thisadvanced avionics package bringsto the table changes as sweeping asthe transition from piston engineaircraft to jets. It expedites thepilot’s ability to make tactical deci-sions. Pilots can track, identify andshoot down an enemy before theenemy is aware of their existence.

Destined to become the dominantfighter aircraft of the 21st centurywhen it becomes operational withthe Air Force in 2005, the F-22 is being

Holding Four AcesSpeed, Stealth, Agility and Revolutionary Avionics

Holding Four AcesSpeed, Stealth, Agility and Revolutionary Avionics

]With capabilities shared by no other combat aircraft, the F-22 gives the U.S. Air Force a first-look, first-shot, first-kill advantage.[ With capabilities shared by no other combat

aircraft, the F-22 gives the U.S. Air Force a first-look, first-shot, first-kill advantage.

Avionics Magazine 3

produced by a Lockheed Martin-ledteam that includes Boeing and keyavionics suppliers Northrop Grum-man, Raytheon, BAE Systems andTRW. Pratt & Whitney produces the F-22’s engines. To date, 10 F-22s havebeen produced and another 31 air-craft are on order. The Bush adminis-tration has requested another 23 air-craft in the fiscal year 2003 budget. Inall, the Air Force plans on a fleet of 339Raptors to replace the venerable F-15Eagle and keep the skies clear for U.S.and allied forces in the years to come.

The F-22’s two F119 engines allowsupersonic cruise at military power(maximum power without afterburn-er) settings. A large wing area andinternal tanks for fuel storage give theF-22 deep penetration range. Using itsstealth capabilities to maximumadvantage, the Raptor can conduct afirst strike, defend itself against air-borne or ground threats, and return tobase to fight again.

No other aircraft can do that, saysMark Hodge, director of F-22 pro-grams for Lockheed Martin’s Wash-ington office. Because current stealthaircraft cannot defend themselvesagainst enemy fighters, they mustattack targets at night or use a mix offighter aircraft to provide air cover, aswell as to suppress enemy radar-directed threats.

However, the F-22 was designed togo and get other airplanes. “So whenyou add to that its capability to pene-trate hard-to-get targets and drop pre-cision weapons on them, you bringcapabilities to the war fighters no airforce has today: a self-supporting, all-weather, all-day/night stealth fighter,”Hodge, a former fighter pilot, says.

StealthOf the F-22’s key capabilities, stealthis the least discussed (for security rea-sons) and may be the least under-stood. It has less to do with the air-

craft’s physical size than with itsdesign, materials and manufacturing.

Stealth technology, which Lock-heed Martin pioneered in the SR-71strategic reconnaissance aircraftand F-117 Nighthawk, and whichNorthrop Grumman advanced in theB-2 Spirit, is a key enabler of the“first-look, first-shot” capability.Internally stored weapons (the firstfor a U.S. air-to-air fighter since theF-106) are essential in preserving theRaptor’s stealth capabilities, in addi-tion to reducing aerodynamic drag.

With the F-22’s stealth capability,“we see the guy before he closes therange to see us,” says Hodge. “Thisenables us to use our avionics to geta detection and an identification,and to get the shot off before he seesus with any of his sensors.”

Stealth is an equally importantfactor in the multimission F-22’s air-to-ground role. It allows a new set oftactics against surface-to-air mis-

4 Avionics Magazine

No advanced weapon system, no matter how lethal, is effective ifit doesn’t show up for business. Designed and built with reliabili-ty and maintainability in mind, the F-22 Raptor offers the capa-bility to fly and fight from Day One. Billed as twice as reliableand capable as its predecessors, the F-22 will allow the U.S. AirForce to get to the fight faster, stay longer and fly more missionsthan any conventional fighter aircraft.

The F-22 is proving itself through a rigorous flight test programconducted by the Combined Test Force at Edwards AFB, Calif.Testpilots on the F-22 contractor team have put the Raptor throughmore than 2,000 flight test hours to date,more than 500 hours test-ing the new avionics system. Aircraft, engines and avionics will bethoroughly tested before the F-22 enters operational service, andbefore that, during initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E),beginning in Q2/Q3 2003.That is when Air Force test pilots will flythe aircraft as if they were in an operational squadron.

Ready from the Get-Go

Two of the F-22 Raptor’s three unique performance capabili-ties—speed and agility—are made possible by the breakthroughtechnology afforded by the aircraft’s twin 35,000-pound-thrustPratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 engines, the most powerful fight-er engines in production.

With the F119 engine (and the F135 derivative for the F-35Joint Strike Fighter), stealth is also integrated with the engine.Whileprevious stealth technology has relied on “burying” the enginethrough advanced geometry and coating, today’s F119 is mounted ina conventional manner to provide maximum performance and easeof maintenance.

At the same time, use of advanced materials and design makethe system difficult to detect by enemy radar.The end result, saysteam member Pratt & Whitney, is a more reliable engine andmore hours in the air to support the mission.

Raptor’s “supercruise” speed and long range also allow thepilot to quickly enter and exit the mission site while evadingenemy fire. In addition, thrust vectoring—the ability to control theengine exhaust’s direction through use of a deflecting nozzle—provides unprecedented maneuverability. It minimizes dragthrough reduced use of aerodynamic flight controls and is fullyintegrated into the aircraft’s flight control system.

Pratt & Whitney has developed the engine for ease of mainte-nance by minimizing the number of tools needed to performrepairs, reducing the number of parts by 40 percent, optimizingthe location of line-replaceable items on the engine, and makingall critical engine features accessible to technicians. Pratt & Whit-ney expects these efforts to reduce operating cost by 50 percentfrom current technology, and increase time between maintenanceby 225 percent. When fielded, the engine systems will useadvanced diagnostics that can immediately discover operationalproblems and identify them by specific part number. The F-22communicates this data via satellite back to the operating base, soa fix will be available when the aircraft lands.

Plenty of Power, Reduced Costs

siles (SAMs) and an adversary’s inte-grated air defense system (IADS),which combines SAMs wi thadvanced fighter aircraft. “To no sur-prise, the best combination againstthis threat is a stealthy fighter thatflies very fast. We can get in and outof [the enemy’s] range of coveragebefore he has a chance to engage us,”Hodge points out. The F-22 is slatedto be a prime element of the initialstrike force—referred to by Air ForceChief of Staff Gen. John Jumper asthe “kick down the door” force—against heavily defended areas.

SupercruiseThe F-22’s ability to conduct deeppenetration missions against heavilydefended air or ground targets isgreatly enhanced by its ability to“supercruise”—to fly at supersonicspeeds without the use of its after-burners. (The term “supercruise” wasinvented by the Air Force to define acapability that did not exist in a pro-duction aircraft prior to the F-22.)

This breakthrough results from theRaptor’s efficient aerodynamicdesign, combined with its two power-ful Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100engines. Pratt & Whitney won the F-22engine competition when the Lock-heed Martin-led team won the air-frame competition in the program’sdemonstration-validation (dem-val)phase. And since 1998, the P&W-equipped F-22 has been demonstrat-ing that it can fly at military power atspeeds in excess of Mach 1.5 withoutafterburner.

This capabil ity del ivers twoadvantages. It enhances the fighter’sstealth characteristics by eliminat-ing the infrared signature that isemitted by an afterburner. And itgreatly extends the F-22’s range byallowing supersonic cruise flightwithout the need to use the fuel-guzzling afterburners.

Afterburners still will play animportant role in the F-22’s missionby providing added thrust and speedduring an intercept or in a dogfight,but they will not have to be used forextended periods in cruise. “Wewanted the benefits of speed with-out the penalty of the afterburner, sowe invented supercruise—and itworks,” Hodge says. The Raptor’srange is classified, but insiders saythat in conventional or military

power, it has “twice the range of ourbest current air-to-air fighter.”

AgilityDespite the obvious breakthroughsafforded by its stealth and super-cruise capabilities, the Air Forcechose not to have a fast, high-flyingfighter that couldn’t maneuver. “Welearned in Vietnam that all you haveto do is get a small maneuveringfighter inside the ‘fast flyer’s’ turncircle, and it will eat him up,” saysHodge. Lockheed Martin already hadestablished a reputation of buildingfast, highly maneuverable fighters—the F-16 Fighting Falcon is arguablythe most maneuverable of modernday fighters—and the companywanted to continue the tradition.

To enhance the maneuverabilityof the F-22, a large fighter with near-ly the same dimensions as the F-15,the Raptor team turned to thrustvectoring. “Basically, we take theexhaust from the aircraft and vectorit up or down, plus or minus 20degrees,” Hodge explains.

Thrust vectoring “makes for phe-nomenal maneuverability,” particu-

larly at low speeds and at high anglesof attack, he adds. Maneuverability ina modern fighter is measured by howslow it can fly, and by how muchangle of attack it can sustain and stillturn. “If you define the most maneu-verable fighter as capable of a 26-degree angle of attack, we are betterthan twice that,” says Hodge, addingthat the F-22 has demonstrated 60degrees angle of attack. “Nobody canoutmaneuver it; nobody can out-range it,” he adds.

A pilot who has flown the Raptorin tests, confirms its capabilities.“The F-22 has demonstrated agilityand maneuverability to absolutelydominate the close-in air battle,”says Chuck Killberg, test pilot for F-22 team member Boeing. He adds,however, that “the goal is to be milesaway [for the kill], so we’re depend-ing on the avionics.”

Hodge agrees. “The real strengthin all the F-22’s capabilities is theavionics suite that encompassessensor fusion and multisensor inte-gration.” Still, Raptor pilots will wel-come the added advantages ofstealth, speed and agility.

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The F-22 Raptor can stow various combinations of weapons for engaging enemies in theair and on the ground.

Air-to AirThe F-22 will carry six AIM-120 Advanced, Medium-Range, Air-to-Air Missiles(AMRAAMs) in the main weapons bay and two AIM- 9 Sidewinders in the side bays. Italso carries an internally mounted M61A2 Vulcan 20mm cannon with 480 rounds.

Air-to-GroundThe Raptor will carry internally stored 1,000-pound GBU-32 joint direct attack muni-tions (JDAMs) for precision all-weather attack, in place of four AMRAAMs. (A largerversion of the GBU-32 has been credited with destroying caves in Afghanistan.)

OtherThe F-22 also has four external hardpoints for weapons/fuel carriage when stealth is notcritical.

The Raptor’s Arsenal

6 Avionics Magazine

A blue-ribbon team of suppliers has developed the F-22’s electronics suite, including integrated processing to produce a comprehensive, blended view of the mission environment.

A Complete Picture of Who’s Out There[ ]

A Complete Picture of Who’s Out There

Avionics Magazine 7

Three sensor platforms—radar; electronic warfare(EW); and communica-tions, navigation and iden-tification (CNI)—combine

to form part of the advanced inte-grated avionics suite that providesthe F-22 Raptor pilot with unprece-dented capabilities. They do sothrough the computing power of twoCommon Integrated Processors(CIPs) in each aircraft.

A clear advantage over previousgeneration aircraft is the F-22’s abil-ity to gather information from mul-tiple sensors, both onboard and off-board the aircraft, and fuse it to pre-sent a comprehensive view of themission environment. “In the F-22,we supply the pilot with a singleview of the world,” says Ron Shue,Lockheed Martin’s avionics inte-grated product team (IPT) leader.The CIP makes “the correlation,enabling the pilot to command theactions,” he adds.

The avionics suite compriseshardware and software produced bythe F-22 team members: LockheedMartin, Boeing Military Aircraft &Missile Systems, Northrop GrummanElectronic Systems, Raytheon, BAESystems and TRW. Lockheed Martin isprimarily responsible for the develop-ment and initial testing of the air-craft’s integrated avionics suite atboth its Marietta, Ga., and Fort Worth,Texas, facilities. Team partner Boeingis responsible for final integrationtesting and software delivery for theF-22’s advanced avionics.

The f i r s t f l i ght o f an F -22equipped with a combat-readyavionics suite took place in January2001. This significant milestone wasrequired for U.S. Department ofDefense (DoD) approval to start theaircraft’s low-rate initial production.

The avionics suite incorporatedBlock 3.0 software components tosupport radar processing, sensorfusion, EW and countermeasures,CNI, and a pilot-vehicle interface. LastFebruary, the industry team deliveredthe latest integrated software pack-age, Block 3.1, to the Combined TestForce at Edwards AFB, Calif., for flighttesting. The new software packagewas successfully flown for the firsttime on April 25 in Raptor 4006.

The Block 3.1 package supplies

more than 90 percent of the totalfunctionality planned for the F-22. Itoffers increased radar, EW and CNIcapabilities, plus the addition of GPSnavigation. Eventually, all F-22s willreceive the avionics updates.

“The release of Block 3.1 integrat-e d s o f t wa re i s a s i g n i f i c a n tenhancement to the warfightingcapabilities already demonstratedby the Raptor,” says Bob Rearden,Lockheed Martin F-22 vice presidentand general manager. Prior to deliv-ery, subsystem hardware and soft-ware had been rigorously tested atBoeing’s Avionics Integration Lab(AIL) in Seattle. And since 1999, air-borne testing has been conductedon the Boeing 757 Flying Test Bed(FTB) aircraft. Use of the FTB reducesavionics system risk and limitsdevelopment costs. It enables exten-sive evaluation and troubleshootingbefore full avionics systems areinstalled on the F-22. To date, morethan 98 percent of system anom-alies have been found prior to deliv-ery to the Raptor.

AESA RadarThe joint venture team of NorthropGrumman and Raytheon providesthe AN/APG-77 multimode activeelectronically scanned array (AESA)radar. This system can rapidly trackmultiple targets at long range, allow-ing simultaneous use of search andtrack modes. It also has advancedelectronic counter-countermeasures(ECCM) capability.

The AESA line-replaceable unit(LRU) includes thousands of transmitand receive modules, which areassembled onto “subarrays” that areinserted into the antenna.The anten-na then sends the radio frequency(RF) signals to a receiver, and they areprocessed in the radar support elec-tronics LRU. The AN/APG-77 radarinterfaces with the F-22’s CIP, thecomputing heart of the F-22’s missionsystem, where the sensor informa-tion is fused with other informationand displayed to the pilot.

“The key element in the radarsystem is the active aperture anten-na, which enables the outstandingradar system performance beingreported by F-22 test pilots,” saysJerry Dunnigan, Northrop Grum-

man director of F-22 radar pro-grams. The radar’s electronic scan-ning capability allows the beam tobe moved much more rapidly thanwith previous systems, permittingenhanced radar searching and mul-tiple tracking capabilities. Andbecause of the active aperturearray’s reliability, its LRU can besealed in the nose of the aircraftand left alone, he maintains.

The AN/APG-77 system has sig-nificant growth capability that couldsupport such advancements as syn-thetic aperture radar, automatic tar-get cueing and ground moving targetindication. The upgraded radarwould enhance the F-22’s air-to-ground capabilities by adding pro-cessing capacity, allowing the F-22 totarget and del iver GPS-guidedweapons even more accurately.

Northrop Grumman, leading theradar system design, provides thesoftware, active aperture antenna,RF receiver, radar support electron-ics and system integration. Its part-ner, Raytheon, has responsibility forthe transmit and receive moduledesign, the array power supply anddriver, and the power conditioner.Northrop Grumman’s work is per-formed at its Electronics Division,near Baltimore, where it has 10,000employees, and at other locations.Raytheon’s facilities, with 2,500employees, are in McKinney,Texas.

Program StatusThe radar program is transitioningto production, following the engi-neering and manufacturing develop-ment (EMD) phase, which ran from1991 to 2002. During that periodNorthrop Grumman and Raytheonbuilt 11 radar systems, which haveundergone more than 12,000 hoursof testing in a laboratory, on the FTBaircraft and on F-22s at Edwards AFB.In addition, the radar team is pro-ducing eight systems for the pro-gram’s production-readiness testvehicle (PRTV) stage. They are beinginstalled on F-22s at Lockheed Mar-tin’s facility in Marietta. First deliver-ies of radar systems for 10 Lot 1 pro-duction aircraft are scheduled tobegin in the second quarter of 2002.Northrop Grumman and Raytheonalso are under contract for the sec-ond production lot of 13 aircraft.Deliveries are to begin in 2003, and

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Development, integration and testing ofthe F-22 Raptor’s avionics system haveplayed a key role in the fighter aircraftprogram’s success. The advanced inte-grated systems flying on F-22 test air-craft today are displaying impressive per-formance, meeting or exceeding require-ments, says Ron Shue, Lockheed Martin’savionics integrated product team (IPT)leader. And the missile launches havebeen successful.

The F-22 team’s projected flight testschedule reflects the integration and test-ing program’s effectiveness. It calls for1,700 hours of avionics flight testing, com-pared to the 4,000 to 6,000 hours histori-cally required for a new fighter aircraft.

The avionics laboratories, locatedthroughout the United States and operat-ed by Lockheed Martin and its teammembers, are the prime contributors tothis cost-saving schedule. These includethe Avionics Integration Lab (AIL) atBoeing in Seattle; Lockheed Martin’sTactical Aircraft System Integration Lab(TASIL) in Fort Worth;TRW’s San DiegoAvionics Integration Lab (SAIL), wherethe communication, navigation and identi-fication (CNI) system is tested; and theCockpit Avionics Integration Lab (CAIL)in Marietta, Ga.

In addition, Boeing’s 757 Flying Test

Bed (FTB) aircraft has accumulatedmore than 1,000 flight hours, testing thesubsystems and integrated system in anairborne environment, and more testhours lie ahead. It was used in early 2002to test the CNI system at Lockheed Mar-tin’s Fort Worth facility.

More than 19,000 test and integra-tion hours have been recorded in the AIL.That includes testing the F-22’s latestsoftware, Block 3.1.1 (subversion ofBlock 3.1), in the spring of 2002.

The avionics labs and Flying Test Bedensure that hardware and software compo-nents and subsystems match design. Theyalso help reduce avionics risks and limitdevelopment costs by enabling extensiveevaluation and troubleshooting before thefull avionics system is installed on the F-22.

The F-22 systems testing largely fol-lows a set sequence. Development, inte-gration and testing begins with digitalsimulation and models. Subsystem testingfollows, using subsystem labs and the inte-gration laboratory. Then the subsystemsare brought together, and an integratedsystem and upgrades are tested in the AILand FTB simultaneously. The integratedsystem is then delivered for installationon the F-22.

Using the CNI system as an example,the F-22 team had electronic integration

take place in TRW’s SAIL before deliveryto Lockheed Martin’s TASIL, in FortWorth. There the CNI system, includingits antennas, was tested on a full-size air-craft model. From Fort Worth, the CNIsystem went to the AIL, where all of thevehicle system’s hardware and softwarecame together.Then it was off to the FTBfor testing in an aircraft environment, andfinally to the F-22 aircraft.

The electronic warfare (EW) systemfollowed a similar path although the tech-nique differed since enemy threats aresimulated best in a laboratory. The firstradio frequency (RF) system hardware andprototype software (for Block 2) EW test-ing were delivered to Boeing’s AIL in Feb-ruary 1999.The countermeasures and mis-sile launch detectors were sent the follow-ing month. From there the full EW systemwent to the FTB for evaluation in the “realworld” and then to the F-22, where it waspart of Block 3.0, the complete integratedavionics suite. The system was first flownon Raptor 4005, the fifth test aircraft, inJanuary 2001.

Cockpit and display integration takesplace at the CAIL, where the full system,like that at the AIL, is tested. KaiserElectronics, now part of Rockwell Collins,provides the head-down displays, andBAE Systems (formerly Marconi) buildsthe head-up display.

Test, Test and Test Again

the team anticipates Lot 3 and 4buys, with deliveries extendingbeyond 2005.

T h e N o r t h r o p G r u m m a n -Raytheon team has been active insupporting Air Force’s “war-on-cost” initiatives. It has delivered allradar systems on time and withincost, and has received several “out-standing team” awards from itsprime contractors, as well as a GoldSupplier “F-22 War-on-Cost Award”from the U.S. government.

The team employed several inno-vations to win the cost war.A subarrayinterconnect improvement programreduced by 33 percent the laborrequired for assembly by employing aribbon bonding process that makes allconnections between the transmitmodules, the receive modules, the cir-culators and the manifolds. Also, atransmit and receive module productimprovement program (PIP), involvingthousands of modules in the array,

resulted in significant cost reductions.The F-22 radar has weathered a

challenging development and testprogram. In 1998, the FTB was takento Baltimore for the radar’s stand-alone subsystem testing. NorthropGrumman further verified the radarsystem software in its laboratoryprior to delivering it to the AIL. InDecember 1998, Block 2 software wasdelivered, providing additional modefunctions and marking the start ofsensor integration. Delivery of thethird radar software block enabledtesting of the avionics full sensorfusion capabilities, and Block 3.0integrated software testing began onthe FTB in September 2000.

Electronic WarfareThe Raptor’s EW system serves notonly as a defensive mechanism thatwarns the pilot of radar-directedthreats, but also as an offensive asset.“It’s the first EW system to be used to

enhance lethality, not just survivabil-ity,” says Lockheed Martin’s Shue. Itcan identify targets and provide pas-sive search and tracking. F-22 pilotscan detect and track targets withoutrevealing their locations by using thetarget aircraft’s radar returns ratherthan their own.

The F-22 EW system was designedas an integral part of the aircraft. Thisrepresents a marked improvementover the previous method of develop-ing the aircraft and then equipping itwith EW. “Then we would have tomake compromises,” says Jim Bang-hart, BAE Systems deputy generalmanager for F-22. “With the F-22, alldevelopment was done in parallel,allowing installation and functionaltradeoffs to be made to optimize theoverall weapons system rather thanany one element of the design.”

Developed and produced by BAESystems in conjunction with Lock-heed Martin, the EW system pro-

10 Avionics Magazine

vides beyond-visual-range identifi-cation of RF emitters, as well asradar warning, missi le launchdetection and countermeasures. Byusing such state-of-the-art compo-nents as surface-mounted devices,application-specific integrated cir-cuits and monolithic microwaveintegrated circuits, BAE Systems wasable to package the 266 modulesinto a total weight of just 365pounds. Its 156 antenna elementsare located in four embedded aper-tures and are treated to preserve theRaptor’s stealth features.

A major contributor to the pilot’ssituational awareness, EW providesthe location of radar emitters thatare trying to detect or track him wellbefore the Raptor becomes visible tothe threat’s radar. With full 360-degree EW coverage, the systemdetects and identifies RF emitters onthe ground and in the air. The F-22pilot receives data necessary todetermine whether to engage oravoid the threat. The system identi-fies the type of radar “painting” theF-22 by measuring characteristics ofthe received signals (frequency,pulse width, interval between puls-es, etc.) and comparing them withdata loaded during pre-flight plan-ning. The measured characteristicscan indicate even radar modes andwarn the pilot that a missile is aboutto be launched.

EW antennas embedded in theaircraft’s surface help preserve the F-22’s stealth attributes. BAE Systemsprovides the apertures, treats themfor radar cross section (RCS), andships them to Marietta, where Lock-heed Martin performs final millingand antenna calibrations.

Another EW function—precision

direction finding (PDF)—“accuratelylocates the emissions in both thehorizontal and vertical planes,” saysBanghart. “In the Raptor, the PDFfunction allows detected signals tobe correlated with other sensors, soif you see a blip on the radar screen,EW can identify the source by ana-lyzing emissions coming from thatblip. It tells who is looking at us.”

The F-22’s radar warning and PDFcapability provide high resolutionfor tracking and identification andthe type of accuracy normally asso-ciated with ELINT (electronic intelli-gence) gathering systems, but on atactical aircraft. The EW system’shigh-speed processing is dividedequally—half performed in the CIPand half performed in the system’sdedicated front-end processors.

BAE Systems credits another EWfunction with making passive track-ing possible. The system’s narrow-beam, interleaved search-and-track(NBILST) capability provides beyond-visual-range identification—anotherfirst for fighter aircraft, according toBanghart. By using high-gain, nar-row-beam antenna patterns, specialreceivers and signal processing, thisfunction becomes thousands oftimes more sensitive than moststandard radar warning receivers.

“If the F-22’s avionics suite seesan emitter or a target using any of itssensors, it can ask this [NBILST]function to take a high-sensitivitylook in that direction and make anidentification based on emissionsfrom the target,” Banghart explains.

The F-22’s EW suite also wentthrough intensive lab testing, using a$25-million, 20-foot-long, advanceddynamic RF simulator (ADARS) andthe FTB aircraft. And BAE Systems is

working on 16 cost-reduction effortsto achieve better than a 12-timespayback on the cost of the EW sys-tem’s implementation. For example,the company will replace the threereceiver types with a digital receiver.The largest cost-reduction initiative,this broadband receiver uses com-mercial off-the-shelf (COTS) compo-nents and will save the Air Force anestimated $500 million over the lifeof the program.

Infrared SubsystemWhile BAE Systems accounts for theRF subsystem of the F-22’s EW suite,Lockheed Martin Missiles and FireControl, in Orlando, Fla., is responsi-ble for the missile launch detector(MLD). It provides passive detection ofmissiles launched at the F-22 fromground-based or airborne threats.There are six MLDs: two mountedbehind the cockpit, two underneathand one on each side of the aircraft,providing full 360-degree coverage.Windows in front of each sensor arecontoured into the aircraft’s surfaceto maintain stealth performance.

The MLDs look for heat energyfrom missile plumes or rocket boost-ers.They also can detect aerodynamicheat gain from approaching missiles,warning the pilot that his aircraft hasbeen targeted. When the systemdetects a missile, the pilot would nor-mally eject flares to counter it. If themissile is coming from the samedirection as that of identitified RF sig-nals, it suggests chaff would be thepreferred countermeasure. Release ofcountermeasures can be automatical-ly or manually directed.The MLD alsocan monitor correct ignition andrelease of the flare.

CNIOnce considered a fairly routine sys-tem that pilots still refer to simply as“com-nav,” communication, naviga-tion and identification has evolved toplay an essential role in the Raptor’sadvanced integrated avionics suite.The F-22 CNI, managed by LockheedMartin team member TRW in SanDiego, is key to sending and receivinginformation but also to detecting andtracking targets. It includes a securedata link with other ground and air-borne sources, which inform the F-22pilot of target locations and the pre-cise position of other members of his

The Flying Test Bed, a much-modified Boeing 757, is usedto test the F-22’s subsystems and integrated avioncs suite.

Avionics Magazine 11

formation.The CNI system allows the F-22

pilot to operate in controlled or hos-tile airspace. It integrates traditionalfunctions such as UHF/VHF radios,tactical air navigation system, instru-ment landing system and air combatmaneuvering instrumentation withnew functions, such as advanceddata links and a high-accuracy elec-tronically scanned interrogator.

Some 52 percent of the totalavionics sensor software resides inthe CNI subsystem, accounting for350,000 lines of code, according to JoeGerard, TRW Radio Systems’ directorof business development-militaryprograms. The CNI system wasdeveloped by a 10-company teamheaded by Lockheed Martin, whichprovides system engineering andintegration and some of the CNI soft-ware. A supplier team headed byTRW includes these companies: Rockwell Collins provides the UHF

and VHF communications; BAE Systems furnishes all the

apertures for the F-22’s CNI sys-tem, the specialized intra-flightdata link (IFDL) system and thejoint tactical information distribu-tion system (JTIDS) hardware andsoftware; and

ITT provides transponder systems.

CNI radio systems have full spec-trum capability, from 100 to 5,000MHz, including VOR, DME, JTIDS, IFF(identification friend or foe) Mode Stransponder/interrogator (for updat-ed air traffic control), and a trafficalert collision avoidance system(TCAS). GPS navigational capabilityhas been added in the 3.1 softwareupdate for the F-22, combining thissystem with the inertial navigationsystem (INS). Northrop Grummanprovides the combined GPS-INS sys-tem for primary navigation.

Other growth functions support-ed by F-22’s CNI system include amicrowave landing system (MLS)and satellite communications (SAT-COM), which supports “constantsource” real-time intelligence.

By going to “an integrated avionicsstrategy—using common signalprocessors, data processors and dis-plays—TRW has been able to reducesize, weight and power requirementsfor the F-22’s CNI system by one third,”says Gerard. The system, which

weighs 260 poundsand draws 2,800 wattsof power, is housed intwo integrated avion-ics racks with externalLRUs, including anten-na interfaces andaudio control panels.

“ T h e g l u e t h a tmakes all these sig-nals operate simulta-neously is containedin the computer soft-ware modules, com-prising about 400,000 lines of code,”says Gerard. “They make the wholeintegrated avionics for the CNIwork.”

The CNI system’s maintainabilityhas been improved through integrat-ed diagnostics, and the use of com-mon modules reduces supportabilitycosts. Gerard cites module reliabilityexamples as high as 16,000 hourspredicted mean time between fail-ures (MTBF) for a preprocessor and18,500 hours for a single L-bandreceiver.

CNI upgrades will migrate towardopen architecture and COTS hard-ware, Gerard says, and go from mili-tary standard CIPs to commercialPC-based processors. And whilemuch of the CNI processing is donein the core computers, “in CNI-2, itwill reside in the CNI racks,” he adds.

CNI testing followed the patternused with the radar and EW sys-tems. Block 2/3 testing added CNIand EW to the package, and Block 3testing, which began in 2000, testedthe avionics system’s full fusion sen-sor capabilities.

CIPTwo Common Integrated Proces-sors provide the computing powerf o r t h e F - 2 2 ’s s e n s o r f u s i o n .Raytheon, working with LockheedMartin, heads the team that isdeveloping and producing this crit-ical subsystem. Raytheon, in ElSegundo, Calif., is the CIP integra-tor and supplies CIP software andthe common line replaceable mod-ules (LRMs). Lockheed Martin Aero-nautics , in Marietta , managesdevelopment of the core processorand also writes key portions of thesoftware that runs the CIP. Othersuppliers for the CIP include: Harris Corp., Melbourne, Fla., pro-

vides the fiber optic network inter-face unit, which lets the CIP com-municate with the F-22 systems.

Smiths Aerospace, in the UK, fur-nishes the digital memory videorecorder;

General Dynamics Decision Sys-tems, Scottsdale, Ariz., makes thecrypto (KOV-5) LRM;

Lockheed Martin Missiles and FireControl, in Orlando, supplies thenon-RF (or IR) signal processor;

BAE Systems, Nashua, N.H., sup-plies the graphics processor.

Boeing developed the power supply;and

TRW, in San Diego, furnishes thelow-latency signal processor.

Flight Controls/StoresLockheed Martin in Fort Worth isresponsible for designing the archi-tecture, software and algorithms forthe F-22’s fly-by-wire flight controlsystem. Other companies supplyingsystems for the Raptor’s flight controland stores include: Raytheon, which supplies the flight

control processor; BAE Systems, the interface mod-

ules; Parker Aerospace, the actuators; Rosemont Aerospace, the air data

system computers and sensors; ITT, the air combat maneuvering

instrumentation (ACMI) system,which will be used in F-22 pilottraining; and

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics pro-vides all software and integrationfor the F-22’s stores managementsys tem, which cont ro l s a l lweaponry and launch sequencesfor advanced air-to-air and air-to-surface weapons. The companyalso conducts fit checks for theAIM-9M (and soon AIM-9X) andAIM-120C AMRAAM missiles.

Internal weapons storagehelps give the F-22stealth performance.

12 Avionics Magazine

Viewfrom the

CockpViewfrom the

CockpBret Luedke, Lockheed Martin F-22 chief test pilot

Avionics Magazine 13

Pilots who have flownthe F-22 Raptor agreethat one fea tures tands fo remostamong the technolo-gy breakthroughsthat separate the airdominance fighter

from other aircraft today: its com-puter-managed advanced avionicssuite. This feature enables the pilotto operate in battle conditions with-out the burden of managing individ-ual sensors.

“The big difference is the integrat-ed avionics in the F-22,” says BretLuedke, Lockheed Martin’s F-22 chieftest pilot. “With other airplanes,information is displayed on three orfour different displays, forcing thepilot to do comparison and analysis,and decide whether a target on theradar display is the same target hesees on the radar warning display.

“In the F-22, we let the computerson the airplane do that for us,” headds. “The main benefit is theincrease in the pilot’s situationalawareness and the decrease in theworkload.”

Raptor pilots, therefore, are tacti-cians and not sensor managers. “Weget a single display that is integrat-ed,” says Luedke. “All information is

put into one picture for us, a 360-degree view around the airplane.”

Luedke, assigned to the F-22Combined Test Force at EdwardsAFB, Calif., has more than 4,000hours of flight test time in 40 differ-ent aircraft, including the F-16, F-4and T-37. Since making his first Rap-tor test flight in June 2000, he haslogged more than 120 hours in the F-

22. Luedke was the first pilot to flyRaptor 4004, the first F-22 equippedwith the integrated avionics suite.

SensorsIn its primary role of detecting, iden-tifying and destroying enemy tar-gets, the F-22 has the unique capa-bility to process and fuse informa-t ion f rom of fboard as we l l asonboard sensors. This capabilityhelps confirm targets, telling whothey are and where they are going.But while the Raptor can gathervaluable target and threat informa-tion from satellites, ground sourcesand airborne sources, such as theAirborne Warning and Control Sys-tem (AWACS), the fighter also hasconsiderable standalone capability.Indeed, Luedke believes that “whenthe Air Force starts flying the air-planes operationally, the F-22 itselfwill eventually play a significant partin feeding the [mission data acquisi-tion] system.”

Unlike F-15 and F-16 pilots, whorely primarily on radar, F-22 pilotsget data from various onboard sys-tems (some passive) to secure track-ing and targeting information. “Theelectronic warfare [EW] and com-munication, navigation and identi-fication [CNI] system sensors col-

lect information, and if we need touse radar to acquire more accuraterange, velocity or rate-of-closuredata, then [the computers] will cuethe radar to do that,” Luedke says,d e s c r i b i n g t h e E W s y s t e m ’sautomation.

Four F-22s, fully equipped with theintegrated avionics, have been testflown at Edwards AFB. This activity ispart of the preparation for Air Forceinitial operational testing, scheduledto begin in the spring of 2003.

No one has flown, or flown in, anF-22 other than qualified Air Forceand contractor test pilots, however.This is because—like several previ-ous jet fighters, including the firsts tea l th f i ghter, the F -117Nighthawk—no two-seat version

was built. A two-seat F-22 was con-sidered an unnecessary expense,since ease of handling makes transi-tion from the simulator to the sin-gle-seat fighter relatively easy,according to pilots who have flownthe Raptor.

In addition to the flying qualitysimulators used by test pilots, Lock-heed Martin maintains two cockpitdemonstrators, to show cockpit lay-out and design and depict the Rap-tor’s integrated avionics system. Thedemonstrator’s flight control soft-ware almost mirrors that in the realairplane—though, obviously, classi-fied information is not displayed.

In the Driver’s SeatAvionics Magazine was invited to “fly”an air-to-air mission in the F-22demonstrator. Climbing into theRaptor cockpit, one first notices thelarge, full-color multifunction dis-plays, made by Kaiser Electronics. Inthe center, horizontally, is the prima-ry tactical display, providing real-time situational awareness (aircraftposition, speed, altitude, etc.) andthreat location.

By applying pressure to the cursorcontrol button on the throttle quad-rant (much like using a mouse on acomputer), the pilot can move a cur-

sor onto the target symbols in thedisplay. He thus gains, through sen-sor fusion, the target’s speed, alti-tude and identification.

Upon being identified, the targetsappear on the display in colors:green for friendly, yellow for uniden-tified, and red for hostile. A wing-man, should there be one, wouldappear on the display in blue. Thisinformation, along with basic flightdata—airspeed, angle of attack, g-force and weapons state—alsoappears on the F-22 pilot’s head-updisplay (HUD), with enemy targetsdepicted as triangles.

To the right of the tactical displayis the offensive display, from whichthe pilot can determine when themissiles are ready to fire, and in what

The F-22 Raptor is a complex fighter aircraft. Yet, with its ease of handlingand ability to fuse data from multiple sensors to provide complete

situational awareness, pilots find it easier to fly than older airplanes.[ ]pitpit

14 Avionics Magazine

sequence. The screen provides a ver-tical display of the mission-area situ-ation, showing the altitudes ofthreats, friendly aircraft and thepilot’s own aircraft in relation to theterrain.

Defensive DisplayThe screen to the left of the prima-ry tactical display is the defensived i s p l ay, s h ow i n g t h e a i r a n dground-based threats. It approxi-mates the radar warning receiver(RWR) on other fighters, in addi-tion to pinpointing the location ofthe radar that “sees” you. It eventells what type of radar it is and itsrange. Red rings on the displayrepresent enemy surface-to-airmiss i le (SAM) s i tes and theirdetection ranges.

The weapons display below theprimary tactical display shows howmany of the F-22’s missiles remainaboard and how many rounds are inthe aircraft’s 20-mm cannon, as wellas the availability of chaff andflares. A smaller display (upperright) presents the F-22’s altitudeand airspeed. And on the left is thecaution and warning system, whichdisplays malfunctions and corre-sponding corrective actions.

“What distinguishes the F-22’sdisplays from those in legacy aircraftis the source of the data being pre-sented, which is the Common Inte-grated Processor [CIP],” says SteveCallaghan, Lockheed Martin F-22program representative. “In the past,we might have an RWR over herethat is getting info from its own sen-sors, a radar display that relies on itsown information from a data link,”he adds, pointing to various areas of

the cockpi tpanel. “But it isnot necessarilyfused or corre-lated. In fact, itwas the pilot’sbrain that actedas the datafusion comput-er. Now thatfus ion takesplace inside theCIP.”

The var ioussources of infor-mation—fromonboard and off-board sensors—

assure data accuracy in the F-22cockpit. The pilot is certain that, say,four separate targets on a display arenot “one guy showing up four times,or worse, four guys showing up asone contact,” Callaghan explains. Headds that the CIP provides two valu-able bits of data: “where everybody is,and who they are.”

The F-22, like the F-16, is flownwith a sidestick controller. Alsoincorporating a red fire control but-ton, the sidestick is positioned onthe cockpit’s right side. The twinthrottles are on the left.

Only slight pressure on the side-stick is required to control the F-22in flight.The flight control computerdoes the complex job of managingthe F-22’s fly-by-wire flight controlsystem, engines and thrust vector-ing. The computer determines prop-er movement of control surfacesand de f lec t ion o f the eng ineexhaust nozzles “to get you there inthe most efficient and expeditiousway,” Callaghan says.

After the Bad GuysOn a simulated mission, we couldsee on the tactical display our loca-tion from geographical referencepoints. We also could detect that atabout 100 miles range, we had aflight of four aircraft in formationcoming directly toward us. At thesame time, a flight of two aircraftappeared 10 degrees to our left, about70 miles away.

Using the button on the throttlequadrant, we placed the cursor onthe two aircraft and discover thatthese are “friendlies,” two F-16s. Butwhen the four ships in formationwere within identification range,

they turned red on the display. Usinginformation from a large onboarddatabase, the display told us thatthey were Su-27 Flankers at 40,000feet, traveling at 0.8 Mach and rightoff our nose at 65 miles.

Because we saw the four “ban-dits” perfectly, did this mean theywere being “painted” by our radar?“Not necessarily,” says Callaghan.“You’re getting this informationfrom a variety of sources. The com-puter fuses it, correlates it and spitsit out to the onboard displays.”

The velocity vectors (lines thatextend from the front of the targetsymbols) indicated the airspeed ofthe now-identified targets. On theoffensive display, a fan-like symbolon the velocity vector showed (whenit touched the display’s aircraft sym-bol) how far away the enemy planecan see you, theoretically, on itsradar. With the F-22’s stealth capa-bilities, the enemy aircraft can bedetected at a greater distance, allow-ing a first-look, first-shoot and first-kill capability.

Options for AttackWe then got ready to “whack” theenemy. Pushing the cursor buttonhighlighted, or “designated,” the redtargets. With multiple targets, thecomputer can be preloaded (after apreflight briefing) to automaticallyselect the f irst target and thesequence of missile firings afterthat. Or we had the option of select-ing our own order of targets. Also,with a wingman on our left, wecould opt to take out two banditsand have the other pilot take out theother two.

When the aircraft was in firingrange and we maneuvered the F-22within proper firing parameters, thecomputer flashed a “shoot” sign onthe tactical display and on the HUD.Pressing the red button on the side-stick opened the weapons doors andthe missile exited and fired.

By pressing the “select” switchagain, we highlighted the secondbandit and, again, received theshoot signal. The same process wasrepeated for bandits 3 and 4. Thesimulator even emitted a noise andshowed a plume of smoke resultingfrom the missile firing.

We had four kills. Mission accom-plished, we flew back to base.

The cockpit demonstrator mirrors the F-22 cockpit.

Avionics Magazine 15

[R]ecent conflictshave affirmedthe value of a

comprehensive air offen-sive. Aerial campaigns have neutral-ized enemy threats, paving the wayfor successful ground operations.They have shown that air superiori-ty is essential in providing a rapidresponse to threats or incursionsagainst U.S. interests.

With rapid advances in informa-tion processing and display, andparticularly in avionics systemsaboard aircraft, enemies and poten-tial foes have access to advanceda i rc ra f t that U.S. fo rces mayencounter at any time, threateningtheir ability to wage battle. With afleet of air superiority fighters near-ing 30 years o ld , even wi thupgrades, the United States may fallbehind its adversaries.

The F-22 Raptor is this new breedof fighter designed to maintain U.S.dominance of the skies during the21st century. Using many technologi-cal advances to achieve stealth,supersonic cruise, ag i l i ty andadvanced integrated avionics, the F-22 is set to dominate the skies overany future battlefield and bringunequaled capability into the handsof U.S. Air Force fighter pilots.

The Raptor i s scheduled tobecome operational in 2005. Air Forceplans call for a fleet of 339 Raptors bythe end of 2013. By the time itbecomes the United States’ air domi-nance fighter, the average age of itspredecessor (the venerable F-15) willbe 35 years, and its design nearly 50years old.

Why do we need the F-22? “Withpotential adversaries continuing toevolve designs and produce new jet

fighters, they have caught up withus,” says Mark Hodge, director of F-22programs for Lockheed Martin’sWashington office. “Other forceshave access to fighter aircraft [pro-duced in Russia and elsewhere],which match the performance, range

and missile and avionics capabilitiesof our best current fighters. Thepotential enemy matches our bestcurrent jet.

“Do we want for the first time tosend our airmen into combat withinferior equipment?” Hodge asks.“We’ve never done that before.” Withthe collapse of the Soviet Union, U.S.pilots have been able to fly a numberof former Soviet and East Germanfighters to see how those airplanesmatch up with U.S. aircraft. Therewas a chilling conclusion.

“Our pilots in their airplanes beatour pilots in our airplanes 100 per-cent of the time,” according to USAFChief of Staff Gen. John Jumper. Thatwill change dramatically when the F-22 comes along.

Why Air Superiority Is Essential

“Do we want forthe first time to send our airmen intocombat with

inferior equipment?”[ ]

The F-22 Raptor is shown here firing anAIM-120 advanced, medium-range, air-to-air missile, or AMRAAM.

[1990]Jan. 13: Assembly of first YF-22

prototype beginsSept. 29: First flight of the first YF-

22 prototype; pilot: DaveFerguson

Oct. 30: First flight of the secondYF-22 prototype; pilot:Tom Morgenfeld

Nov. 28: First live missile firing,ATF program; Jon Beesleyfires an AIM-9

Dec. 11: YF-22s fly in formation forfirst time

Dec. 31: Lockheed/Boeing/GeneralDynamics submits F-22proposal to U.S. Air Force

[1991]Jan.: F-22 program begins relo-

cation to Marietta, Ga.;Gulf War begins

April 23: Lockheed/Boeing/GeneralDynamics F-22 team winsATF contract

Aug. 2: Engineering and manu-facturing development(EMD) contract awarded

[1993]March 1: Lockheed purchases Gen-

eral Dynamics’ Fort WorthDivision

[1994]Feb 10: F-22 procurement reduced

from 648 to 422

[1995]March 15: Lockheed and Mar t in

Marietta mergeJune 2: Assembly of f irst F-22

mid-body begins Oct. 4: Assembly of first F-22 aft

section and wings begins Nov. 2: Assembly of f irst F-22

integra ted fo rebodybegins

[1996]Jan. 17: Boeing begins assembly of

first shipset of wingsOct. 8: First two flight test F119

engines deliveredOct. 16: Fuselage mate started on

first F-22Nov. 9: Wings for first F-22 arrive

at Marietta from BoeingDec.: Electrical power applied to

F-22 for first time

[1997]April 9: F-22 Raptor rollout cere-

mony held at MariettaAug. 16: Low-speed taxi test com-

pletedSept. 5: High-speed taxi test com-

pletedSept. 7: First flight of F-22 Raptor;

pilot: Paul Metz

[1998]Feb. 5: F -22 t ranspor ted to

Edwards AFB for flight testMarch 31: YF-22 placed in the Air

Force Museum May 17: Formal flight testing at

Edwards AFB beginsJune 29: First flight of second F-22

(Aircraft 4002) at MariettaJuly 30: First in-flight refueling of

Aircraft 4001Aug. 26: Aircraft 4002 flies nonstop

to Edwards AFB: pilot: Lt.Col. Steve Rainey

Oct. 10: First flight at supersonicspeed of Aircraft 4001

Nov. 23: First Block 1 integratedproduct ion sof twarereleased to Flying Test Bed(FTB)

16 Avionics Magazine

F-22 RaptorMilestones

The first in-flight refueling of an F-22 Raptor occurred on July 30, 1998.

Nov. 23: Lockheed Martin achievesCongressionally mandat-ed 183-flight-hour mark

[1999]March 11: Boeing begins testing first

avionics package on FTBApril 29: Raptor 4002 flies first time

with both main and sideweapons bay doors open

May 4: Raptor 4002 records pro-gram’s 100th flight-testsortie

July 21: Raptor 4001 demonstratessupercruise for first time(Mach 1.5, approximately1,100 mph, for 3 minutes)

Aug. 25: Raptor 4002 conducts 60-degree h igh ang le o fattack

Nov. 23: F-22, KC-10 refueling quali-fication testing completed

Dec. 21: 500th f l ight-test houraccomplished

[2000]March 6: First flight of Aircraft 4003;

pilot: Chuck KillbergMarch 15: Aircraft 4003 flies nonstop

to Edwards AFB; pilot: Lt.Col. Bill Craig

July 25: First AIM-9 launch fromAircraft 4002; pilot: ChuckKillberg

Oct. 24: First Advanced Medium-

Range Air-to-Air Missilelaunch from Aircraft 4002;pilot: Lt. Col. “Doc” Nelson

Oct. 31: Pratt & Whitney com-pletes 2, 150 TAC cycles,1/2 full hot section life

Nov. 2: Raptor 4001 ferried fromEdwards AFB to Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, forlive-fire testing

Nov. 15: First flight of Aircraft 4004,the first avionics Raptor;pilot: Bret Luedke

[2001]Jan. 5: First flight of Raptor 4005;

pilot: Randy NevilleJan. 30: Raptor 4004 ferried to

Edwards AFBFeb. 5: First flight of Raptor 4006;

pilot: Al NormanMarch 11: Raptor 4005 ferried to

Edwards AFBApril 17: F-22 launched an AIM-9

missile while rolling at 60degrees per second

April 18: F-22 program reached1,000th flight-test hour

May 17: Raptor 4003 successfullyflew at maximum Mach

May 18: Raptor 4006 ferried toEdwards AFB; full after-burners were used for thefirst time on takeoff

June 13: F-22 becomes first tactical

fighter to successfullylaunch an AIM-9 missilewhi le ro l l ing a t 100degrees per second

Aug. 15: Defense Acquisition Board(DAB) unanimously rec-ommended proceedingwith F-22 low-rate initialproduction

Aug. 22: Live fire test on Raptor4001 was conducted atWright-Patterson AFB

Sep 14: F-22 program is approvedto enter into low-rate ini-tial production

Sep 21: The F-22 Raptor launchedthe first guided AIM-120missile

Oct. 15: First flight of Raptor 4007 Oct 18: DAB authorizes Lot 2 con-

tract for a 13 aircraft buy.

[2002]Jan. 5: Aircraft 4007 ferried from

Marietta to Edwards AFB.Jan. 15: The Air Force announced

its decision to base thefirst operational wing of F-22 Raptors at Langley AirForce Base,Va.

Feb. 8: Aircraft 4008 completedfirst flight

May 15: Ground-based, full-scalestatic testing completed

Avionics Magazine 17

Wings are attached to the F-22 Raptor fuselage during the aircraft’s final assembly.

18 Avionics Magazine

AdvancedS y s t e ms Te c h no l o g i e s■ American Precision Products ■ Barnhart& Rigging ■ Campbell Engineering Co. ■ Coating Technologiesate ■ General Products LLC ■ GKN Westland Aerospace Inc. ■ Infinity Technology Inc. ■ Southland

sion ■ Wyle Laboratories ■ General Dynamics Decision Systems ■ Honeywell International-Engine & Systems ■conductor Corp. ■ Phoenix Logistics Inc. ■ Raytheon Missiles Systems Co. ■ Sargent Controls & Aerospace ■

3 Inc. ■ Universal Propulsion Co. ■ Chem-Fab Corp. ■ Aerojet General Corp. ■ Aerospace Dynamics Inc. ■

(Rohr) ■ BAE Systems Inc. ■ Certified Fabrications Inc. ■ Composites Horizons Inc. ■ Dasco Engineering ■ Eaton-StInc. ■ GKN Aerospace Chem-Tronics Inc. ■ Hexcel Corp. ■ Honeywell International ■ Kaiser Electronics ■ Lockheed MartiRaytheon Co. ■ Schlosser Forge Co. ■ Shultz Steel Co. ■ TRW Inc. ■ ITT Industries Inc. Systems Div. ■ Reyco Precision Technologies LLC ■ GKN Westland ■ Gros-Ite Industries ■ Hamilton Sundstrand Corp. (UTC) ■ HTD Aerospace Inc. ■ Jar

Pratt & Whitney ■ United Technologies ■ Whitcraft LLC ■ Dupont Co. ■ Atlantic Precision ■ Baker Hill Industries Inc. ■Corp. ■ Invensys Sensor Systems ■ KAM Specialties Inc. ■ Lockheed Martin Aerostructures ■ Lockheed Martin—MissilesDevices Inc. ■ Unison Industries ■ Aeroquip Corp. ■ Aero-Tech Tooling Services Inc. ■ Damascus Road Systems Inc. ■ DAerospace Machining ■ McClier Inc. ■ Pratt & Whitney ■ Phoenix Software ■ Quarterwave Corp. ■ Tucker Data Services ■■ Derlan Precision ■ Hamilton Sunstrand Corp. ■ L-3 Communications ■ Honeywell Aircraft Landing ■ Honeywell InternRolls-Royce Corp. ■ Spencer Industries ■ Tri-Industries ■ Litton Systems Inc. ■ Brittain Machine Inc. ■ Manufacturingnifin Corp. ■ ECI Systems & Engineering ■ Pratt & Whitney ■ Fairchild Defense Division ■ Kaydon Ring & Seal Inc. ■

PerkinElmer Fluid Sciences ■ Advance Manufacturing Co. Inc. ■ Burke Industries, Silicon Prods ■ Kidde Technology ■ PaGage Co. Inc. ■ Wyman Gordon Co. ■ Aeroquip Corp. ■ Aerospace Group ■ Dynalog Inc. ■ Eaton Aeroquip Corp. ■ Glob

ponents ■ Jedco Inc. ■ Metro Machine Works Inc. ■ Models & Tools Inc. ■ Moeller Manufacturing ■ Pratt & WhitnVisioneering Inc. ■ Woodward Inc. ■ LAI Midwest Inc. ■ Par Systems Inc. ■ Remmele Engineering Inc. ■ Rosemount May Tool & Mold Inc. ■ Sever Industries Inc. ■ Tradco Inc. ■ Summit Design & Manufacturing ■ Viking Metallurgical

tems North America ■ Hitchiner Manufacturing Co. Inc. ■ New Hampshire Ball Bearings ■ Honeywell InternationSmiths Industries ■ Sandia National Laboratories ■ Alken Industries Inc. ■ EDO Corp. ■ Federal Systems-Oweg

als Inc. ■ Hughes Treitler Manufacturing Corp. Lockheed Martin Systems Integration ■ Lourdes Industries IFastene ■ Curtiss Wright Flight Systems ■ Kidde Aerospace Inc. ■ Aluminum Co. of America ■ Argo-Tech C

■ Parker Hannifin Corp. ■ PCC Airfoils Inc. ■ PCC Precision Castparts Corp. ■ RMI Titanium Co. ■Turbine ■ Engine Components Textron ■ United Aircraft Products Inc. ■ Hanard Machine ■

Casting Co. ■ Selmet Inc. ■ Wah Chang Albany Corp. ■ Hexcel Corp. ■ SPS Technologiescraft Center ■ Michelin Aircraft Tire Corp. ■ Micro Craft Inc. ■ Schm

tries Inc. ■ L-3 Communications ■ Raytheon Co. ■ SavageHannifin ■ Wyman Gordon Forgings Inc. ■ Metalcraft Tec ■

■ Howmet Structural Casting ■ CNC Diversified Manufacting Co. ■ Fatigue Technology Inc. ■ General Dynamics

Tactical Systems ■ Hytek■ JL Manufacturing Co.

Products Inc. ■

t i c a l S y s -

“The hard work and dedication of theseTeam Raptor suppliers has been a

major contributor to the excellence ofthe aircraft design and performance.”[ ]

F-22 Raptor:A Nationwide EndeavorMore than 1,000 first-tier companies have joined together to develop and manufacture the F-22 Raptor. Scattered throughout the UnitedStates, these subcontractors work on a team lead by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. and including Pratt & Whitney, Northrop GrummanElectronic Systems, BAE Systems,TRW and Boeing Military Aircraft & Missile Systems. Space prohibits listing all F-22 subcontractors;we therefore list the following companies, which provide $50 million or more in production for the F-22 Raptor.

Avionics Magazine 19

Teamwork, a sage once said, isthe joining of diverse special-ties for a common purpose in

order to accomplish more. The suc-cess of the F-22 Raptor in meeting orexceeding key performance require-ments is a direct result of the com-bined specialties, and efforts, of adedicated and talented team of sup-pliers throughout the United Statesand overseas. Major partners Boeingand Pratt & Whitney are part of ateam of 2,500 suppliers in 46 states,

which enable prime con-tractor Lockheed Mar-

t in to bu i ld thewor ld ’s most

a d v a n c e dfighter.

Lockheed Martin jokes that it“buys” the plane from its subcontrac-tors, because approximately 60 per-cent of the work in building andequipping the F-22 is performed bysuppliers. Without these team mem-bers, the aircraft could never havebeen designed or built, the primecontractor maintains.

T h e s e s u p p l i e r srange from indus-t r y g i a n t s l i k e

Northrop Grum-man, BAE Sys-

tems, TRW andRaytheon to small“mom and pop”tool and dye shops

t h a t c o n t r i b u t eimportant parts.For some compa-nies, the Raptorrepresents their

o n ly a e ro s p a c ebusiness.

“It is unrealistic toexpect that even large cor-

porations like Lockheed Mar-tin-with its spectrum of tech-

nology and aerospace experience-could build the airplane by our-selves,” says Robert Rearden, generalmanager of the F-22 program. “Over

the years, we have assembled atop-notch blue- ribbon collec-

tion of subcontractors and sup-pliers.

“The hard work and dedi-cation of these Team Raptorsuppliers has been a major

contributor to the excellence of theaircraft design and performance,”he adds.

There is a good reason for the far-flung network of suppliers through-out the United States and in Europe.“There aren’t many people who canbuild quality parts for an aircraft likethe F-22. And even those who cansometimes are simply not interestedin being involved in a program likethis,” says Rearden. “The work iswhere it is because that is where thepeople who want to do the workreside.”

The three companies who supplythe sensor platforms that combineto form the Raptor’s advanced inte-grated avionics suite are convincedof the significance of their contribu-tions to the F-22 program. “The APG-77 radar, being flown today on theRaptor, ushers in a new era of com-bat capability. It represents the nextgeneration in technology and pro-vides a new standard against whicheverything that follows will be mea-sured,” says Northrop Grumman‚sJerry Dunnigan, director of F-22radar programs.

“It’s the first time EW has beenused to enhance lethality, not justsurvivability,” says Jim Banghart,commenting on the Raptor’s elec-tronic warfare suite. Banghart is BAESystems’ F-22 systems director anddeputy general manager for F-22.

“Some 52 percent of the totalavionics sensor software resides inthe CNI [communications, navigationand identification] subsystem, man-aged by TRW,” adds Joe Gerard, TRWRadio Systems’ director of businessdevelopment, military programs. “Butby going to an integrated avionicsstrategy, we have been able to reducesize, weight and power requirementsfor the system by one third.”

Reduced size and weight, greatercapability and new generation oftechnology-these are among thebenefits the F-22 Raptor program hasgained from joining diverse special-ties, i.e., teamwork.

CraneAssoci-P r e c i -Microsemi-

S y s t emsBFGoodr i c h

terer (Vickers Inc.) ■ Forrest Machiningin Aeronautics Co. ■ Park- er Hannifin Corp. ■■ Beacon Industries Inc. ■ Dynamic Gunver

rvis Airfoil Inc. ■ Kaman Instrumentation Corp. ■

■ Eaton Corp. ■ Florida Eagle Industries Inc. ■ Harris & Fire Control ■ Aeropower C o r p . ■ S h a w A e r oelta Sigma Co. ■ EMS Tech- nologies Inc. ■ McCann

■ Tucker Technology ■ Arrow Gear Co. ■ Aurora Bearing Co.national ■ Howmet Corp. ■ Reeder & Kline Machine Co. Inc. ■ Development Inc. ■ McGinty Machine Co. Inc. ■ Parker Han-■ Northrop Grumman Electronic Sensors & Systems Sector ■

arker Hannifin Corp. ■ Titeflex Corp. ■ TW Metals ■ Westfieldbal Tooling Systems ■ Howmet Corp. ■ Howmet Turbine Com-ney Autoair Composites ■ Rolled Alloys ■ Roush Crucam ■Aerospace Inc. ■ Advance Tool & Die Co. ■ GKN Aerospace ■l Corp. ■ Albany International ■ BAE Systems Inc. ■ BAE Sys-nal ■ Howmet Corp. ■ Kulite Semiconductor Products Inc. ■go ■ Hicksville Machine Works Corp. ■ Homogeneous Met-Inc. ■ Moog ■ MRC Bearings Inc. ■ Peerless AerospaceCorp. ■ Dupont Tribon Composites ■ Goodrich Corp.■ Sermatech Lehr ■ Slabe Machine Products Co. ■

PCC Precision Castparts Corp. ■ PCC Schlosser Inc. ■ Stein Seal Co. ■ Lockheed Martin Air-

miede Machine & Tool Corp. ■ Beacon Indus-e Precision Fabrication ■ Stratoflex/Parker■ Fairchild Aerospace ■ Howmet Structuralsturing Inc. ■ Exot- i c Me t - als Form-s Ord- nance &

F i n - i s h e s■ WilsonATK Tac-tems Co.

Joining Diverse Specialties