PAUL LEWIS / FARNBOROUGH
Two-seat version of stealthy F-22 designed for deep strike
Lockheed Martin has presented the US Department of Defense with its study of a proposed long-range strike variant of the F-22 Raptor as the US Air Force pursues nearer-term options to enhance the fighter's air-to-ground capability.
The proposed two-seat FB-22 would have three times the range of the air-superiority F-22 and would replace the Boeing F-15E and Lockheed F-117. The USAF does not have a stated requirement for the aircraft, which would cost $5-7 billion to develop, but will consider it as part of wider trade studies of F-22 enhancements, says air force secretary James Roche.
Principal changes focus on a fuselage stretch to accommodate a larger weapons bay. A delta wing would increase fuel volume, with a W-shaped trailing-edge for stealth. The avionics and weapons system would retain a high degree of commonality with the single-seat F-22.
Engines that are being considered include the General Electric F110-139, a Pratt & Whitney F119 derivative and the Joint Strike Fighter's P&W F135 and possibly GE F136. Engines would have low-observable axisymmetric thrust-vectoring nozzles, rather than the F-22's two-dimensional vectoring nozzles. Because of the long-range subsonic cruise requirement, engine cycle is different to that needed to give the F-22 its supercruise capability.
USAF trade studies are assessing how much additional strike capability can be squeezed out of the current design. Planned near-term block improvements include upgrading the F-22's active-array radar to incorporate JSF technology, providing a synthetic aperture ground-imaging mode and other air-to-ground functionality.
There are also plans to arm the fighter, which can already carry two 450kg (1,000lb) Joint Direct Attack Munitions internally, with the new 113kg Small Diameter Bomb.
Source: Flight International
