geekosystem

The last of the world's first fifth-generation jet fighter, the F-22 Raptor, rolled off the assembly line in December of last year. Back in 1994, there were meant to be 750 of the stealthy high-tech fighters built, but that number has dwindled over ballooning costs and concerns that the conflict the F-22 was designed for just hasn't materialized. In the end, 187 operational fighters were built. The last Raptor, number 4195, took its first flight this past Wednesday in Georgia.

Careful readers of our Geekolinks have probably noticed that we have been keeping a close eye on the F-22 Raptor's continuing oxygen troubles over the past few months. After spending about four months on the ground, the Air Force finally allowed the planes back in the sky this September, only to be grounded again last week. Now it seems that with little-to-no explanation, the planes are once again flying from bases in Virginia and Alaska. The most recent grounding was tied to concerns of hypoxia, a dangerous condition that develops when the brain is deprived of oxygen. Similar concerns were the impetus behind the first grounding back in May. As with the first ungrounding, there is no word from the Air Force about a fix for the aircraft. The future of America's premiere $150 million per-plane, high-tech aircraft seems uncertain -- especially at a time where drones are carrying out untold numbers of missions and the F-35 is nipping at the Raptor's heels. Introducing new hardware is always difficult, but this is embarrassing.

After spending the better part of four months on the ground, Lockheed-Martin's F-22 Raptor superjets have been cleared to fly again as of today. Originally grounded in May after reports of oxygen issues, the jets have been the focus of a months long study by the Air Force and aeronautics experts. Frequent readers may have noticed that this is a story we've been following for some time now. The concern sprung from pilots returning from flights with hypoxia-like symptoms, a condition which occurs when the brain is deprived of oxygen. The condition, while temporary, is extremely dangerous as it can potentially affect decision making and reaction time -- two things the pilot of an extremely fast and extremely expensive aircraft cannot afford to loose. Further studies found antifreeze in the blood of Raptor pilots, which only deepened the mystery of what was going on with the aircraft.

The role of stealth aircraft has been a touchy subject ever since the F-117 Nighthawk was unveiled to the public in 1988. Stealth technology allows missions that might not have been possible before, but it also requires a huge investment and reliance on sometimes finicky technology. In his report with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments think tank, Barry Watts points out that stealth aircraft make up a relatively small fraction of the U.S. fighter and bomber fleets -- some 5.5%. With so small an investment, it begs the question of whether stealth aircraft can outpace the advances being made in detection technology. The threats against stealth aircraft are far more sophisticated than they were 13 years ago. Watts discusses the use of longer-wavelength radar systems that take advantage of UHF and VHF radars. Because these are longer wavelength systems, the radar cross section of even stealthy airplanes will appear much larger. There are many technical and logistical hurtles to overcome, but Watts postulates that fully digital active electronically scanned arrays (AESAs) could soon be a real threat. One of the most intriguing anti-stealth technologies is the VERA-E, which from Watts' description sounds like a crowd sourcing approach to radar defense.