F/A-22 Raptor Receives Kudos, Criticism

A Pentagon report by David Duma of the Office of Operational Test and Evaluation has rated the F/A-22 Raptor fighter as "operationally effective and survivable" but needing work in the areas of reliability, diagnostics and maintenance procedures. It also noted that the F/A-22 was successful in 90% of missions and three times more effective than the F-15C in air-to-air missions, exceeding an early 1990s Pentagon directive that combat testing must demonstrate that it's at least twice as effective as the Boeing Co. F-15C it would replace. In contrast, Col. Everest Riccioni (USAF ret.), who pioneered supersonic cruise technology and the F-16 Lightweight Fighter Program, has published a critical analysis, noting problems with the program and calling it "the wrong weapon at the wrong time"....