Speculation - New Technology? F-22 Raptor

[John Corn]

Anyone have an educated guess on when we'll be able to use these babies? (F-22 Raptor)

[John Corn]

:)

[firephoto]

Not soon enough.
I watched a show on PBS about the development and competition between Lockheed and Boeing in getting the contract for the JSF.
Very interesting. The VTOL ability is amazing in the way Lockheed approached it. They used a horizontal turbine like fan mechanical driven off of the engine to provide the vertical thrust. This also shielded the intakes from the hot exhaust air making it work better.
http://www.jsf.mil/

[Danny R]

Aren't there a handful of these already completed and in testing now? I would bet that the Air Force wouldn't be adverse to seeing how at least one of these fares in real combat. Of course my understanding is that the F-22 is an air superiority fighter (air to air combat... not intended for bombing runs) so there probably isn't much call from them currently in Iraq.

They would probably not tell us if they were actually used however until their official release in 2005.