The industry team of Lockheed Martin and Boeing is working with the U. S. Air Force and Pratt & Whitney to develop the F-22 to replace the F-15 as
America's front line air dominance fighter. The Critical Design Review (CDR) of the F-22 and the Initial Production Readiness Review
(IPRR) of the F119 engine were completed in February 1995. The Air Force confirmed that the program was ready to proceed to fabrication and assembly of EMD
aircraft. First flight of an EMD aircraft took place in September 1997. Low-rate initial production began in 1999. The Air Force plans to procure 339 production F-22s, and production is scheduled to run through 2013.
Prior to its selection as winner of what was then known as the Advanced Tactical Fighter
(ATF) competition, the F-22 team conducted a 54-month demonstration/validation (dem/val) program. The effort involved the design,
construction, and flight testing of two YF-22 prototype aircraft. The dem/val phase of the program was completed in December 1990. Two prototype engine
designs, the Pratt & Whitney YF119-PW-100 and the General Electric YF120-GE-100, also were developed and tested during the program. The Pratt & Whitney F119 was selected by the Air Force to power the F-22. Much of the
dem/val work was performed at Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin) in Burbank, Calif.; at General Dynamics
(now Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems) in Fort Worth, Texas, at Boeing in Seattle, Wash. The prototypes were assembled in
Lockheed's Palmdale, CA, facility and made their maiden flight from there. Since that time, Lockheed
Martin's program management and aircraft assembly operations have moved to
Marietta, GA., for the EMD and production phases.
The fast, agile, and stealthy F-22 will begin to take over the air dominance role first with Air Combat Command starting in 2004.
We
will never forget 11/9/01...
