Two Seat Raptor?

[unhappycamper]

Two Seat Raptor?


A critical look is being taken at what some in the military tactical aviation field had long suspected - that being the prospect of a two-seat F-22 Raptor.

Now before any of you single-seat purists go off half-cocked, let me state flat out that as the Radar Intercept Officer son of a dedicated single-seat 4,000-hour-plus A-4 Skyhawk-250-missions over Vietnam father, I've heard all those names for the "Guy In Back" - "The loss of 200 lbs of gas" comes to mind, with my personal favorite being the Brit's "Talking Ballast".

But with the electronic battlespace of today, having two bodies - and two heads and two sets of eyes and two brains coupled with two mission capabilities in that cockpit makes a certain amount of sense. Particularly in light of the potential enemy air order of battle that may be in store for us in the future along with an increasingly complex and challenging airspace.

Aviation Week and Space Technology's David Fulghum has the below article out in the 1 Oct issue that talks about the value of two-seat fighters. Opinions (and arguments) abound regarding the value of such a move but can we really discount the consideration of a Raptor-version of the F-15E Strike Eagle or even the now-retired F-14D Super Tomcat (Supersonic Attack - No Escort Required said the patch) in light of what that additional capability brings to the warfighter's table? What we don't want, of course, is a step backwards in this digital-cockpit age. Fulghum states in his article "Recent operational experience with the F-22 produced an aural environment, described by participants as “spooky,” where aircrews seldom speak and move information by data link, which is faster and more accurate than talking."

However, with the advent of advanced radars such as Raytheon's APG-79 active electronically scanned array radar, which is standard equipment in the Block II versions of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, having this "spooky" cockpit environment of tactical decision making at the speed of thought could continue. The APG-69 provides the ability to decouple the cockpits so that the pilot can concentrate on an air-to-air mission while the rear-seat/GIB/WSO prosecutes a ground attack, both using specific elements of the radar simultaneously.

In addition to that capability, keep in mind the overarching need to make our scarce defense dollars go as far as they can and the fact that a single-mission platform is a thing of the past speaks well for a multi-crew/multi-mission 5th-generation platform that gives the Joint Commander a much more versatile toolkit from which to conduct air operations.


Rest of article at: http://www.defensetech.org/archives/003762.html?wh=wh




uhc comment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-22_Raptor sez:

In April 2006, the cost of the F-22A was assessed by the Government Accountability Office to be $361 million per aircraft. This cost reflects the F-22A total program cost, divided by the number of jets the Air Force is programed to buy. So far, the Air Force has invested as much as $28 billion in the Raptor's research, development and testing. That money, referred to as a "sunk cost", is already spent and is separate from money used for future decision-making, including procuring a copy of the jet.

By the time all 183 jets have been purchased, $34 billion will be spent on actually procuring the aircraft. This will result in a cost of about $339 million per aircraft based on total program costs. The incremental cost for one additional F-22 is around $120 million. If the Air Force were to buy 100 more F-22s today, each plane would be less than $117 million and would continue to drop with additional aircraft purchases.



The Top Gun F-22 web site http://www.f22fighter.com/history.htm sez:

Q How can we afford to have the F-22?
A The F-22 will require only half the F-15's support personnel, because it can fly twice as long as the Eagle between maintenance periods and be made ready for combat in 1/3 less time than the F-15.

With an average aircraft "sticker price" of less than $84 million – not $200 million as is often quoted in the F-22 -- the F-22’s average annual program costs will be less than 1.5% of the DOD budget during its production period. In addition, 2/3 of fighter life-cycle costs are incurred after production in the form of maintenance, munitions and other support costs - and the F-22 is expected to be significantly less expensive to operate than the F-15.

Many of the media stories to date focus on the cost issues around the F-22 here and now. Politics are a staple of news coverage and one of the most significant factors to judge newsworthiness is the degree of controversy involved. The media tend to focus here and do not judge it to be within their purview to address the strategic necessity of having the F-22 – the importance of having an asymmetric advantage against all would-be adversaries. By 2005, over 21 countries will maintain arsenals formidably challenging to the F-15. The balance of world power will tip accordingly.

But perhaps the best answer is: How can we afford not to have it? The F-22 provides "first-look, first-shot, first-kill" capability. It can see the enemy first while avoiding detection itself. When we meet the enemy, we want to win 100-0, not 51-49. Why? Simple. American lives. The F-22’s effectiveness minimizes the loss of American lives. What price will you put on these?


The original post sez:

Lockheed Martin officials privately say they are looking at two two-seat concepts. The first is a new version of the F-22 with a large wing—redesigned from the FB-22 concept—for more fuel. But unlike the bomber wing, it will allow supersonic cruise. A fuselage plug will add the second seat and a larger weapons bay that could include advanced, long-range missile designs. The company estimates the second seat would add only about 10% to the airframe cost.


At the moment that means a 2 seater would cost $379,900,000 a pop. Three of them would cost $1,118,700,000 in 2006 or 2007 dollars.

We should start hearing about a 'need' to update this $339,000,000 aircraft.

IIRC, the Cold War ended when we spent the Soviet Union into collapse.