F-22 Raptor: Capabilities and Controversies

F-22A Raptor

The 5th-generation F-22A Raptor fighter program has been the subject of fierce controversy, with advocates and detractors aplenty. On the one hand, the aircraft offers full stealth, revolutionary radar and sensor capabilities, dual air-air and air-ground SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses) excellence, the ability to cruise above Mach 1 without afterburners, thrust-vectoring super-maneuverability… and a ridiculously lopsided kill record in exercises against the best American fighters. On the other hand, critics charged that it was too expensive, too limited, and cripples the USAF’s overall force structure.

This public-access DID Backgrounder offers a profile of the USAF’s most advanced fighter, and covers both sides of the F-22 Raptor’s controversies in the USA and abroad. A separate article tracks continuing maintenance and fleet upgrade programs, contracts, and timely news.

US DoD Starts Fiscal Year with Order Trickle

Pentagon October Awards

• Last month’s government shutdown contributed to a 66% sequential drop in DoD awards, to $15.7B across 185 awards, vs. 717 awards worth a total $46B. Since the federal government tends to spend significantly more in September at the end of its fiscal year, a fairer comparison is the $37.4B awarded in October 2012. Bloomberg.