F-22 AIRST

mixelflick · by **mixelflick** » 14 Jan 2022, 19:07

This is great news, and will probably extend the Raptor's career somewhat. USAF I think planned to retire it early, sometime around 2030?

Whoever proposes retiring the F-22 before NGAD is on the flight line is going to have a really hard time justifying why, especially if F-15C's (or even the F-15EX) is still flying. It looks way too heavy, but I wonder if the legion pod can be mounted on the AIM-9 rails?

Would seem to get around the "we just don't have the real estate" issue cited by USAF prior when this issue came up...

wrightwing · by **wrightwing** » 14 Jan 2022, 19:55

mixelflick wrote:This is great news, and will probably extend the Raptor's career somewhat. USAF I think planned to retire it early, sometime around 2030?

Whoever proposes retiring the F-22 before NGAD is on the flight line is going to have a really hard time justifying why, especially if F-15C's (or even the F-15EX) is still flying. It looks way too heavy, but I wonder if the legion pod can be mounted on the AIM-9 rails?

Would seem to get around the "we just don't have the real estate" issue cited by USAF prior when this issue came up...

There's no plan to retire the F-22 by 2030, and absolutely no one is proposing retiring it before NGAD is available in both numbers and maturity. It's always been said that the retirement is contingent upon NGAD, so it'll absolutely be at some point past 2030.

disconnectedradical · by **disconnectedradical** » 14 Jan 2022, 20:22

mixelflick wrote:This is great news, and will probably extend the Raptor's career somewhat. USAF I think planned to retire it early, sometime around 2030?

Whoever proposes retiring the F-22 before NGAD is on the flight line is going to have a really hard time justifying why, especially if F-15C's (or even the F-15EX) is still flying. It looks way too heavy, but I wonder if the legion pod can be mounted on the AIM-9 rails?

Would seem to get around the "we just don't have the real estate" issue cited by USAF prior when this issue came up...

Why AIM-9 rails? Better to use the compartment under the nose. I think based on pictures, problem is EOTS is too tall, so if they can rearrange it to fit the bay or use a long sensor like IRST21 it may be easier the physically add it in.

wrightwing · by **wrightwing** » 15 Jan 2022, 01:10

disconnectedradical wrote:
mixelflick wrote:This is great news, and will probably extend the Raptor's career somewhat. USAF I think planned to retire it early, sometime around 2030?

Whoever proposes retiring the F-22 before NGAD is on the flight line is going to have a really hard time justifying why, especially if F-15C's (or even the F-15EX) is still flying. It looks way too heavy, but I wonder if the legion pod can be mounted on the AIM-9 rails?

Would seem to get around the "we just don't have the real estate" issue cited by USAF prior when this issue came up...

Why AIM-9 rails? Better to use the compartment under the nose. I think based on pictures, problem is EOTS is too tall, so if they can rearrange it to fit the bay or use a long sensor like IRST21 it may be easier the physically add it in.

Exactly. If you were gonna give up the AIM-9 bay, it'd be better to figure out a way to get more internal fuel, than to put an IRST there, that takes away the VLO advantage.

jessmo112 · by **jessmo112** » 15 Jan 2022, 01:17

Maybe they should put 6 to 8 arrays on the plane like DAS. 2 in the cheeks, 1 small array In the nose, and 1 aft where the current man's lies.
They could make it a poor man's DAS.
With out the EOTS to slew. It might require updating circuit boards and the data bus, but the plane likely needs this anyway. I have a AV guy from my church that could wire this in hours with a MacBook.

disconnectedradical · by **disconnectedradical** » 15 Jan 2022, 01:45

jessmo112 wrote:Maybe they should put 6 to 8 arrays on the plane like DAS. 2 in the cheeks, 1 small array In the nose, and 1 aft where the current man's lies.
They could make it a poor man's DAS.
With out the EOTS to slew. It might require updating circuit boards and the data bus, but the plane likely needs this anyway. I have a AV guy from my church that could wire this in hours with a MacBook.

Someone should do basic research on the AN/AAR-56 and its spectrum before making asinine suggestions.

jessmo112 · by **jessmo112** » 15 Jan 2022, 03:36

You think I was serious, when I said my buddy could wire this? I was kidding. On a serious note after all of the issues with the F-35s DAS overcoming issues like.
Jitter, ghost images, in-flight refueling blind spots ect ect, that the tech would be mastered. You would think that handy solutions are available.

disconnectedradical · by **disconnectedradical** » 16 Sep 2022, 00:04

So now F-22 is finally getting the AIRST, it’s in writing in the FY23 budget documents for F-22 Sensor Systems.

https://www.saffm.hq.af.mil/Portals/84/ ... Y3kw%3d%3d

Vol 3 Page 665 is F-22 Sensor Systems

As part of the F-22 Rapid Prototyping Middle Tier Acquisition (MTA) program, previously known as the Capability Pipeline, Sensor Systems improves sensor capabilities to maintain air superiority and preserve first look, first shot, and first kill capability. This includes developing and maturing advanced Infrared Search & Track (IRST) sensor capabilities to provide the F-22 with an asymmetric sensing advantage against potential adversaries while continuing to deliver on its unmatched maneuverability.

The F-22 Sensor System programs utilize a rapid acquisition construct leveraging commercial best practices such as agile and lean. This allows the F-22 Raptor enterprise to develop, test, and field software/hardware from multiple programs (product lines) using a scheduled cadence for capabilities as they mature.

The AIRST will be in a pretty slick pod, which is not ideal but the pod may have additional uses for ESM, ComNav, etc so for a slight impact to RCS the F-22 will be much more capable. The hardware has already been flight tested.

The question is if this sensor is the IRST21 or something more advanced.