American advanced fighter aircraft Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor COBI 5855 - Armed Forces 1:48

You know that:

• When the U.S. Air Force was looking for a successor to the F-15, it launched a competition in 1981 to develop a fifth-generation fighter with enough advanced capabilities to maintain air superiority for several decades.
• The winning design came from a consortium of Lockheed, Boeing and General Dynamics under the designation YF-22.
• The machine was first introduced to the public in 1997 and immediately caused an extraordinary stir. The extensive use of composite materials and fuselage shapes made it look like something not of this planet.
• That same month, a meeting was held in Moscow at the Ministry of Defence with representatives of the Russian aerospace industry in response to the introduction of the new US F-22. The secret services were tasked with gathering as much information as possible to begin development of their own 5th generation machine. Russian technology was hopelessly outdated and it took another 13 years until the first flight of the Su-57 fighter.
• Proof that the American fighter was ahead of its time is that similar aircraft, whether of Russian or Chinese design, are more or less copies of the F-22.
• The U.S. government originally envisioned production of 750, but with the end of the Cold War the quantity was reduced several times to a final 195 aircraft.
• The last one was produced in July 2011.
• As the development costs were divided between the 195 units produced, it is the most expensive fighter aircraft in human history.
• The F-22 is literally crammed with super-modern technologies like the APG-77 radar, a 30-antenna fuselage detector, the AAR-56 warning system, and a powerful Pratt & Whitney engine.
• The exact specifications are still a state secret under the federal law H.AMDT-295.
• Japan, Israel, and Australia also expressed interest in the advanced fighters, but sales outside the U.S. were never authorized.
• Development of a successor to the F-22 is already underway under the NGAD designation. The first 3 prototypes of the 6th generation fighter were tested in 2023. As everything is being conducted in top secret mode, no further information is available.

Technical parameters:

• dimensions: wingspan 13,56 m, length 18,92 m, height 5,08 m
• empty weight 19 700 kg
• maximum take-off weight 38 000 kg
• powerplant 2x Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 jet engines, each with 156 kN thrust
• fuel tank capacity 8 200 kg + up to 11 900 kg in additional tanks
• maximum speed 2 410 km/h
• maximum flight level of more than 20 000 m
• radius of action 852 km
• armament integrated M61A2 20 mm cannon + 2x Sidewinder missile + 6x Amraams missile
• crew 1

Pilot Mike "Moose" McGee on the F-22:

"It is the most advanced combat aircraft I have ever flown. In the cockpit, you feel incredible combat power and a sense of invulnerability."