F-22 Most Expensive Hangar Queens In History

[Ykato]

The Most Expensive Hangar Queens In History

July 5, 2011: What appeared as a simple problem with the U.S. F-22 fighter, has kept 168 of them grounded for over two months, so far. It all began when it appeared that the F-22 fighter might be having a problem with its OBOG (OnBoard Oxygen Generating) system, causing pilots to get drowsy, or even black out, from lack of oxygen. There have been five reports of potential problems in this area lately. As a result, on May 3rd, all F-22s were grounded. But the U.S. Air Force is also checking the OBOGs in F-16, F-15E, A-10, F-35 and T-6 aircraft as well. The problem may just be with the F-22 OBOG, or a general problem with all air force OBOGs. The air force also believes the F-22 problem may not just involve the OBOG. As a result, the grounding is "indefinite" and will continue until the source of the breathing problem is found, and definitely fixed.

Full Item located here:
www.strategypage.com/htmw/htatrit/articles/20110705.aspx

[flyjoe180]

All caused by a faulty OBOG eh. Expensive!

[machpants]

ouch, even the mighty tornado was more serviceable than that!

[horicle]

Since the Yanks use the same OBOGS unit on all these 'small' aircraft and they draw their compressed air from an engine compressor stage it is difficult to see how just the F-22 could be affected unless it is a piping problem. How much do these aircraft cost?

[Chris F]

Cost per aircraft is 339 million and that gets you the best fighter aircraft ever produced.

[Dave Homewood]

Come on Raptor, Corsairs don't cost that much

[Chris F]

True Dave and I dont think the F-22 will ever hit the Warbird circuit even in a hundred years!

[kiwithrottlejockey]

From the Los Angeles Times....

High costs, malfunctions plague F-22 Raptor fighter jets

The fleet of 158 F-22 planes — costing $412 million each — has never
entered combat and has been grounded since May 03 because of
a government safety investigation. The probe follows more than
a dozen incidents in which oxygen was cut off to pilots, a problem
suspected of contributing to at least one fatal accident.

By W.J. Hennigan - Los Angeles Times | 7:47PM PDT - Saturday, August 06, 2011


The F-22 Raptor jet hasn’t been used in conflicts because its technology wasn’t needed, Air Force officials
say, adding that the F-22 is worth its high price tag — an estimated $412 million each — because it is the
“most advanced fighter aircraft, with unrivaled capabilities.” — Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images.

IT'S the most expensive fighter jet ever built. Yet the F-22 Raptor has never seen a day of combat, and its future is clouded by a government safety investigation that has grounded the jet for months.

The fleet of 158 F-22s has been sidelined since May 03, after more than a dozen incidents in which oxygen was cut off to pilots, making them woozy. The malfunction is suspected of contributing to at least one fatal accident.

At an estimated cost of $412 million each, the F-22s amount to about $65 billion sitting on the tarmac. The grounding is the latest dark chapter for an aircraft plagued by problems, and whose need was called into question even before its first test flight.

The sleek, diamond-winged fighter was conceived during the Cold War in the early 1980s to thump a new generation of Soviet fighter jets in dogfights. But with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Soviet fighters that the U.S. military planners feared never moved beyond development and were never built.

Now, while other U.S. warplanes pummel targets, the F-22 has sat silently throughout battles in Afghanistan. It has gone unused in Iraq. There has been no call for it in the conflict above Libya.

"For all that gigantic cost, you have a system you can't even use," said Winslow T. Wheeler, a defense budget specialist and frequent Pentagon critic at the Center for Defense Information. "It's a fundamental explanation on how the country has gotten itself in the financial mess that it's in today."

Designed in Burbank and built in Marietta, Ga., the F-22 won the final go-ahead from Congress in 1991, thanks in part to a lobbying campaign by the plane's manufacturer, Lockheed Martin Corp. — then Lockheed Corp. — and its near 1,100 subcontractors in 44 states.

"The Cold War was over, it didn't make any sense to go forward with the program," said Thomas Christie, a retired official who worked 50 years at the Pentagon. "But the Air Force built up such a large constituency up on the Hill that it couldn't be killed."

The Air Force wanted an engineering marvel with unmatched features of any other aircraft. Lockheed Martin delivered.

F-22 engines have thrust-vectoring nozzles that can move up and down, making the plane exceptionally agile. It can reach supersonic speeds without using afterburners, enabling the plane to fly faster and farther. It's also packed with cutting-edge radar and sensors, allowing the pilot to identify, track and shoot an aircraft before the enemy pilot can detect the F-22.

"The Air Force piled it all on," said Pierre Sprey, an aeronautical engineer who helped design the F-16 and A-10 jets. "It became a vehicle to carry a laundry list of technologies. The plane is a textbook case on the dangers of complexity."

As the Air Force saw more opportunities for design changes, the F-22 grew in cost. When the plane first entered service in 2005, it didn't take long for problems to arise.

In 2006, an F-22 pilot was stuck in the plane on the ground for five hours because the canopy wouldn't pop open. Firefighters had to cut the pilot out. A replacement canopy cost about $71,000, the Air Force said.

In 2007, a software error in the navigational systems caused 12 F-22s to turn around from a flight to Okinawa, Japan, from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii. Six days later, engineers corrected the error at a cost of between $200,000 and $300,000, the Air Force estimated.

Last year, the fighters were inspected for rust corrosion "due to poorly designed drainage in the cockpit," according to the House Armed Services Committee. Fourteen F-22s had rusting parts in the cockpit replaced, the Air Force said.

Corrosion has also been an issue with the plane's radar-evading skin, which, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said, is "difficult to manage and maintain, requiring nearly twice the number of maintenance personnel as anticipated."

The plane takes about 3,000 people to maintain, the Air Force said. The service calculated that for every hour in the air, the F-22 spends 45 hours undergoing maintenance.

Two decades ago, the U.S. government planned to buy 648 of the fighters for $139 million apiece; the cost has almost tripled since then to $412 million, the Government Accountability Office said.

Recently retired Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates ended the purchase in 2009 at 188 planes, only a handful of which are still being built. The $273-million increase per plane translates to $51.3 billion in lost buying power for the F-22 program.

"The reality is we are fighting two wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the F-22 has not performed a single mission in either theater," Gates told a congressional panel in 2008.

Air Force officials said the F-22 hasn't been used in conflicts because its technology wasn't needed. They added that all aircraft have problems that crop up, and that the F-22 is worth the high price tag because it is the "most advanced fighter aircraft, with unrivaled capabilities."

"The aircraft was designed for high-threat environments, not what we've seen in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya," said Lt. Col. E. John Teichert, who until recently commanded the F-22 squadron at Edwards Air Force Base. "If the F-22 prevents a military engagement with another country, it is well worth the money."

Even though the F-22 has never been sent over a war zone, it has experienced seven major crashes with two casualties — one of which may have been linked to the oxygen malfunction.

Capt. Jeff Haney, 31, was killed in a F-22 after a crash in the Alaskan wilderness in November near Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. An ongoing Air Force investigation is examining the oxygen system as part of its probe.

The Air Force said the order in May to keep the planes grounded was caused by 14 instances since June 2008 in which pilots experienced sickness related to bad oxygen flow.

The Air Force said its investigation into the accident and oxygen problems "is currently scheduled to be completed and delivered to the secretary of the Air Force this coming fall."

The oxygen system problems have compelled the government to examine its forthcoming F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which is also made by Lockheed. The F-35 is smaller than the F-22 and will be used jointly by the Navy, Marines and Air Force. The Pentagon plans to buy 2,457 F-35s.

John P. Jumper, a retired Air Force general, former Air Force chief of staff to President George W. Bush and fierce backer of the F-22 program, said the F-22 problems need to be resolved soon so the planes and pilots return to service.

"It's very troublesome," he said. "This is the sort of thing that deserves a thorough examination so it never can happen again."

www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fighter-jets-grounded-20110807,0,4799249,full.story

[Chris F]

I seen in a recent artical that the F-35's will not completely replace the F-16 in US frontline service as the F-16 is still highly regarded as a capable and reliable front line light weight fighter.
More to the point these high tech aircraft seem to have all sorts of issues with software and development full stop.
It makes you wonder if the tried and true aircraft like the Super Hornet and F-16's will out last their so called replacements.
Time will tell but with the current world economic outlook no country can afford high tech aircraft grounded or with on going issues.

[horicle]

Further to the F-22 oxygen system. Avweb site covers the legal action entered into by a pilots widow (Haney, I think) and in that entry is the fact that the oxygen system shut down 'correctly' due to a bleed air problem. How about - the idiots have engineered something too complex for them to fix? I am still not aware of the problem being solved.

[scorpiomikey]

Not the first time the F-22 has had issues.
www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=20396
Seems like its a bit of a lemon. Something i feel the F-35 will end up being (its failed to meet the specs already)

[kiwithrottlejockey]

From the Los Angeles Times....

Air Force safety measures attempt to address F-22 Raptor concerns

The Air Force reveals training, tests and other changes made in response
to concerns about oxygen systems on its F-22 Raptor fighter jet.

By W. J. HENNIGAN | Saturday, May 12, 2012


An F-22 Raptor's weapon bays are visible during a demonstration at Langley Air Force Base
in Hampton, Virginia, in April. — Photo: Steve Helber/Associated Press/April 30, 2012.

IN RESPONSE to growing concern about problems with its F-22 Raptor fighter jet, the Air Force revealed it has slapped on new safety restrictions to protect its pilots.

The announcement came as Senator Mark R. Warner (Democrat — Virginia) and Representative Adam Kinzinger (Republican — Illinois) Friday requested additional information from the secretary of the Air Force to further determine the scope of safety concerns raised by several pilots of the world's most expensive fighter jet, designed and built byLockheed Martin Corp.

The Air Force acknowledged last week that some of the nation's top aviators are refusing to fly the radar-evading F-22, a fighter jet with ongoing problems with its oxygen systems that have plagued the fleet for four years.

"The health and safety of our pilots — all of our pilots — is the utmost priority," said Brigadier General Daniel O. Wyman, an Air Force command surgeon. "Our operational flight surgeons and medical staff interact with our pilots on a daily basis, and mission No.1 is their health and safety."

The comments, posted on the Air Force's website, were meant to address the growing attention directed at the safety of the F-22. Concerns have grown in recent months as no clear explanations have emerged for why pilots are reporting hypoxia-like symptoms in the air. Hypoxia is a condition that can bring on nausea, headaches, fatigue or blackouts when the body is deprived of oxygen.

The F-22 is considered the most advanced fighter jet in the world. It entered military service in 2005, and the Air Force received the last of its order of 188 planes last week.

The plane can reach supersonic speeds without using afterburners, enabling it to fly faster and farther. It's also packed with cutting-edge radar and sensors, enabling a pilot to identify, track and shoot an enemy aircraft before that craft can detect the F-22. The Air Force says the aircraft is essential to maintain air dominance around the world.

According to the Air Force, each of the sleek, diamond-winged aircraft costs $143 million. Counting upgrades and research and development costs, the U.S. Government Accountability Office estimates each F-22 costs taxpayers $412 million.

While other warplanes in the U.S. arsenal have been used to pummel targets in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, the Air Force's F-22s have sat largely idle — used only in test missions. Even so, throughout the jet's development, F-22 pilots have been in seven serious crashes, resulting in two fatalities.

Over the years, F-22 pilots have reported dozens of incidents in which the jet's systems weren't feeding them enough oxygen, causing wooziness. This issue led to the grounding of the entire F-22 fleet last year for nearly five months. But even after the grounding was lifted, the Air Force said investigators could not find a smoking gun.

The Air Force lifted the grounding last September. When that happened, Wyman revealed this week, the Air Force put all F-22 pilots through retraining so they would know their own specific hypoxia symptoms. It also affixed a device to pilots' fingers that measures the amount of oxygen in the blood while they are in the cockpit.

The Air Force also added a high-efficiency particulate air filter consisting of activated carbon and charcoal, Wyman said. "It was cleared for flight use by theU.S. Air Forceprogram office and has been used by the military for over a decade in the ground crew and aircrew ensembles," he said.

At the end of each flight, pilots turned in the filters to be examined by Air Force personnel.

Black dust was found in some of the breathing hoses.

"We analyzed it and found it to be activated carbon dust ... an inert or nonreactive compound that has been used for air and water filtration for decades without any significant evidence of harm," Wyman said. The dust was "well below the industrial hygiene standard levels set by government agencies," he said.

In addition, Wyman revealed, the Air Force conducted throat swabs of F-22 pilots, and those indicated no evidence of harmful substances. Even so, pilots reported persistent coughing, which they call the "Raptor cough."

"Coughing is a natural physiologic response that serves to re-inflate the air sacs," Wyman said.

Last Sunday, two F-22 pilots appeared with Representative Kinzinger on CBS' "60 Minutes" to discuss reasons why they refused to fly the jet. At the risk of significant reprimand — or even discharge from the Air Force — Virginia Air National Guard Captain Joshua Wilson and Major Jeremy Gordon said they would not fly the F-22 until the oxygen problems were solved.

Since the segment aired, other pilots have contacted Senator Warner of Virginia, which is home to one of the seven military bases where F-22s are based.

"After meeting with these pilots, and having conversations with many other knowledgeable individuals, we would recommend an immediate, confidential and anonymous safety survey of all active duty and reservist F-22 crews, pilots and flight surgeons to definitively document the scope and frequency of these hypoxia-like incidents," Warner and Kinzinger wrote in a letter to Air Force Secretary Michael B. Donley. "It is our view that such a survey could be initiated within 10 days, and our offices would expect to receive timely updates both on the survey methodology and the results shortly thereafter."

The Air Force did not reveal how many of its 200 F-22 pilots had declined to fly the jet.

www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-0512-f22-reactions-20120512,0,7723915.story

[Calum]

Aug 9, 2011 16:16:37 GMT 12 Chris F said:

I seen in a recent artical that the F-35's will not completely replace the F-16 in US frontline service as the F-16 is still highly regarded as a capable and reliable front line light weight fighter.
More to the point these high tech aircraft seem to have all sorts of issues with software and development full stop.
It makes you wonder if the tried and true aircraft like the Super Hornet and F-16's will out last their so called replacements.
Time will tell but with the current world economic outlook no country can afford high tech aircraft grounded or with on going issues.

There will always be a place for non stealthy platforms like the F-16/ F/A-18. They will be used in operations were a modern integrated Air defence system doesn't exist (e.g. Afghanistan), or once the IADS has been destroyed/reduced .

The F-22 F-35, B-2 etc are designed to be the first aircraft 'through the door" in a conflict against a 1st world power with a modern IADS.

[Calum]

Mar 16, 2012 10:56:13 GMT 12 horicle said:

Further to the F-22 oxygen system. Avweb site covers the legal action entered into by a pilots widow (Haney, I think) and in that entry is the fact that the oxygen system shut down 'correctly' due to a bleed air problem. How about - the idiots have engineered something too complex for them to fix? I am still not aware of the problem being solved.

Not quite that simple

www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/awx_05_02_2012_p0-453509.xml

www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/AW_05_07_2012_p31-454218.xml

[horicle]

Don't they know that the OBOG unit is mounted on the same platform as the 5Ltr and 10Ltr LOX containers and has the same volume as the 10Ltr container. Probably not allowed in the contract and too expensive to modify a few A/C to see if the problem goes away. The U/SAF may have a problem here that is so simple to fix that it is below the services ability.

[picard]

F22s oxygen generation system uses air from air ducts. And if stealth coating is suspect to evaporating...

[picard]

Jul 15, 2011 11:21:57 GMT 12 Chris F said:

Cost per aircraft is 339 million and that gets you the best fighter aircraft ever produced.

Right now, it is 412 million USD.

[ngatimozart]

May 21, 2012 18:15:03 GMT 12 picard said:

Jul 15, 2011 11:21:57 GMT 12 Chris F said:

Cost per aircraft is 339 million and that gets you the best fighter aircraft ever produced.

Right now, it is 412 million USD.

I'd take those figures with a dose of salt. It depends on how the costs are worked out. If you look at the published costs for the RAAF C27J buy it went from US950 million to US$1.4 billion in six months. So it's whats included in the unit cost that matters and whether it's fly away cost or Term of Life cost or many other variables.

[Ykato]

Faulty vest valve blamed for F-22 pilots' hypoxia symptoms

The U.S. Air Force says it is it has identified the cause of potentially deadly oxygen deprivation problems experienced by pilots flying the F-22 Raptor fighter jet for years.
A faulty valve in pressure suits worn by pilots at high altitudes caused more than a dozen pilots since 2008 to experience dizziness, disorientation, and even blackouts, Pentagon spokesperson George Little told reporters today.
"I think we have very high confidence that we've identified the issues," Little said, according to an ABC News account of the news conference, before announcing the suspension of flight restrictions put in place on the $79 billion fleet in May.
"The valve was causing the vest to inflate and remain inflated under conditions where it was not designed to do so, thereby causing breathing problems for some pilots," Little said.
To correct the problem, the Air Force plans to replace the valve on the vest and increase the volume of oxygen flowing to pilots by removing a filter installed to determine whether oxygen contamination was the cause of the hypoxia symptoms.
"There was no oxygen contamination," he said, adding that no unexplained hypoxia symptoms have been recorded since March.
The Air Force ordered pilots to stop wearing the pressure vests in June over suspicions that the vests might have been responsible for the oxygen issues.
A month earlier, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta also ordered pilots of the Lockheed-made jets, which have never flown in combat, to fly at low altitudes and within close range of a landing strip.

news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57479311-76/faulty-vest-valve-blamed-for-f-22-pilots-hypoxia-symptoms/

[Ykato]

Pentagon "Confident" F-22 Problem Solved

The military believes it has found the source of the potentially deadly oxygen problem that has plagued America's most expensive fighter jet, the F-22 Raptor, for years, Pentagon spokesperson George Little said today.

"I think we have very high confidence that we've identified the issues," Little told reporters, before announcing a long-term plan to lift strict flight restrictions imposed by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on the $79 billion fleet in May. "This is a very prudent way to ensure that we, in a very careful manner, resume normal flight operations."

The mystery problem with the F-22 Raptor was the subject of an ABC News "Nightline" investigation, which found that since 2008, F-22 pilots have experienced unexplained symptoms of oxygen deprivation -- including confusion, sluggishness and disorientation -- while at the controls of the $420 million-a-pop jets on more than two dozen occasions. In one instance, a pilot became so disoriented that his plane skimmed treetops before he was able to pull up and save himself. The Air Force subjected the F-22 to intense scrutiny for years, including a nearly five-month fleet-wide grounding last year, but was unable to solve the problem. When the grounding was lifted, the service awarded the plane's manufacturer, defense contracting giant Lockheed Martin, a nearly $25 million contract in part to help identify the problem, but still no answer was found.

The source of the issue, the Pentagon now says, is believed to be a faulty valve in the high-pressure vest that is worn by the pilots at extreme altitudes -- one that Air Force officials believe is constricting the pilots' ability to breathe.

"To correct the supply issue and reduce the incidence of hypoxia-like events, the Air Force has made two changes to the aircraft's cockpit life support system," Little said. "First, the Air Force will replace a valve in the upper pressure garment vest worn by pilots during high-altitude missions. The valve was causing the vest to inflate and remain inflated under conditions where it was not designed to do so, thereby causing breathing problems for some pilots... Second, the Air Force has increased the volume of air flowing to pilots by removing a filter that was installed to determine whether there were any contaminants present in the oxygen system. Oxygen contamination was ruled out."

The Air Force first ordered its pilots to stop wearing the vests last month, but Air Force spokesperson Lt. Col. Tadd Scholtis told ABC News at the time that while the vests were believed to have contributed to the problem, they were "not believed to be the root cause of the prior incidents."

When asked by a reporter if the new solution could also account for the at least five instances in which the Air Force said ground crews working on the F-22s experienced their own hypoxia-like symptoms, Little said he "did not have specifics" on those incidents.

Still, Gen. Charles Lyon, the head of the team investigating the F-22 problem, made his case in the Pentagon against the so-called G-suit and its valve over the past few days, an Air Force official told ABC News, and Little said that Friday Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and other top Air Force officials presented the Air Force analysis to Panetta.

"After receiving assurances that these corrective measures would minimize hypoxia-like events in the F-22, the secretary approved the Air Force planned sequence of actions to remove flight restrictions over time," Little said.

The process starts today, he said, with an order from the Air Force for a squadron of F-22s to be deployed to Kadena Air Base in Japan. The planes will fly there at altitudes that will not require pilots to wear the vests.

The Air Force is still in the process of installing an automatic emergency back-up oxygen system to the planes but that process is not expected to be completed until next spring.
Despite costing an estimated $79 billion, no jet in the entire F-22 fleet -- some 185 planes -- has ever seen combat. From Iraq to Afghanistan to the no-fly zone over Libya, the Air Force said the planes simply weren't necessary.

www.wmbb.com/story/19113319/pentagon-confident