Edit this paragraph | Back to top Technical features Production division diagram The F-22 adopts a twin-vertical tail, twin-engine, single-seat layout. The vertical tail is tilted outward at 27 degrees, just on the edge of the general stealth design. The air inlets on both sides are installed under the extended surface of the wing leading edge (side wing). Like the nozzle, they are designed to suppress infrared radiation for stealth. The main wing and horizontal stabilizer adopt the same sweep angle and trailing edge front. The grazing angle is a trapezoidal plane with a small aspect ratio, and the wings are coated with special materials that absorb radar waves. The bubble-shaped canopy protrudes from the upper part of the front fuselage, and all weapons are concealed in four internal bomb bays. Edit this paragraph | Return to top Structural features In the plane, it is an integrated aerodynamic system with a tail with a high-mounted trapezoidal wing, including a vertical tail with a rudder and tilting outwards that is widely separated from each other, and the horizontal stabilizer is directly adjacent to Wing arrangement. According to technical standards (small reflective shape, use of materials that absorb radio waves, use of radio electronic countermeasures equipment and small radiation airborne radio electronic equipment to equip fighter jets, the minimum designed cross-radiation area is about 0.005-0.01 square meters) (Confidential) . Polymer composites (KM) containing thermoplastic (12%) and thermally acted (10%) are used extensively on the body. The proportion (by weight) of composite materials (KM) used in series production aircraft will reach 35%. The diamond-shaped engine inlet ducts under both wings are non-adjustable inlets, and the inlets are S-shaped channels for laying the cold wall of the engine compressor. The engine's two-dimensional nozzle has fixed side walls, adjustable nozzle cross-sectional area, and movable upper and lower adjusting plates designed to deflect the thrust vector at a pitch angle of ±20°. Edit this paragraph | Back to the top Avionics system missile mount diagram The complete set of comprehensive airborne radio electronic equipment developed according to the general manual of TRW Company includes: central data integrated processing system; integrated communication, navigation and identification system ICNIA and including radio electronic countermeasures system A complete set of equipment for electronic warfare INEWS; high-resolution airborne radar AN/APG-77 and electro-optical sensor system EOSS, Super Wasp LN-100F inertial navigation system (HHC) with two laser gyroscopes. The airborne radar is an active phased array radar with electronic scanning. It contains more than 1,000 modules and uses a single integral system technology in the ultra-high frequency range. In order to improve concealment, the passive working state of the radar station is designed, which ensures that when the radar station works in an active state, the signal is less likely to be intercepted. The automatic instrument equipment in the pilot's cockpit includes four LCD monitors and a wide-angle instrument takeoff and landing system.
The F-22's avionics system adopts the system configuration research results and many new technologies adopted by the "Jewel Pillar" project. This reconfigurable system configuration replaces field-replaceable units (LRUs) with field-replaceable modules (LRMs). Each module is responsible for a part of the work of the entire avionics system, and the work performed by each module is closely related to the flight phase when the aircraft performs its mission. And when a module fails, other normal modules can be used to assume the most important functions at this stage, thus improving the reliability of the system. Edit this paragraph | Back to top Radar system The F-22's AN/APG-77 radar is an active phased array system used to detect targets. It works with other sensors and avionics through a centralized data processing system. The processor controls the pattern of the antenna's transmit and receive beams and processes the received radar data. The technical basis for the APG-77 radar is the Ultra Reliable Radar (URR) program and the Air Force's active phased array radar experiments. The ultra-reliable radar's unique feature is Texas Instruments' Solid State Phased Array (SSPA) antenna. The independent transmission and reception of each radiating element is an innovation in this system design and ensures increased flexibility, small radar cross-section and wide frequency band.
The biggest feature is the integrated agile beam control, which allows one radar to perform search, tracking and target targeting tasks at the same time. Agile beam control also allows the radar to search other airspace, while Tongjin may continue to track priority targets. In addition, the radar's low interception rate capability allows the F/A-22 to target enemy aircraft equipped with radar warning receivers and electronic jamming equipment without the enemy aircraft knowing that it has been targeted.
The main characteristics of the APG-77 radar: operating frequency: 8 to 12GHz; scanning range: electronic scanning, ±azimuth 90°; real beam terrain mapping: 148 kilometers; Doppler beam sharpening: 18.5 kilometers , 37 kilometers or 74 kilometers; moving target indication: 74 kilometers; searching while measuring distance: 296 kilometers (head-on); measuring distance while searching at speed: 296 kilometers (head-on). Mean time between failures 450 hours (predicted value).
Edit this paragraph | Back to top Airframe performance Texas F-22 demonstration aircraft
KC-135 aerial tanker and F-22
[edit] General characteristics
Crew: 1 pilot
Total length: 62 feet 1 inch (18.9 meters)
Wingspan: 44 feet 6 inches (13.56 meters)
Overall height: 16 feet 8 inches (5.08 meters)
Wing area: 840 square feet (78.04 square meters)
Empty weight: 31,700 pounds (14,379 kg)
Typical takeoff weight: 55,352 lbs (25,107 kg)
Maximum takeoff weight: 80,000 lbs (36,288 kg)
Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney F119-PW -100 turbofan engines, each with a maximum afterburn output of 35,000 pounds (155.7 kN)
Flight performance
Top speed: Mach 2.25 (1,500 mph, 2,414 km/h) < /p>
Cruise speed: Mach 1.82 (1,220 mph, 1,963 km/h)
Flight range: 1,600 miles (1,840 nautical miles, 2,960 km), plus 2 external fuel Box
Maximum ceiling: 18,000 meters
Wing load: 66 pounds/square foot (322 kg/square meter)
Thrust: 310 kN (plus Force) 195.8 kN (normal)
Full load internal fuel: 1.09 (18,000 lbs)
50% internal fuel load: 1.26 (9,000 lbs) Collective
Instantaneous circling angular rate: 30 degrees/second Maximum G limit: -3.0/+9.0 G
Sea level climb rate: 355 meters/second Takeoff roll distance: 610 meters
Landing roll distance: 914 meters
Combat radius: 2177 kilometers
Maximum dive speed: Mach 2.5
Front and rear wheelbase: 6.04 meters
Maximum payload: 11340 kg
Maximum take-off mass: 27273 kg Front radar reflectivity 0.0065 square meters Side radar reflectivity 2~3 square meters Empty weight: 13636 kg Edit this paragraph | Return To the top airborne weapons cannon: 1 x 20mm M61A2 Vulcan six-barreled rotary cannon, equipped with 480 rounds
Air-to-air configuration:
6 AIM- 120C advanced medium-range air-to-air missile
2 AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles or AIM-132
Air-to-ground configuration:
2 GBU- 32 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) or
2 Wind Corrected Munitions Dispensers (WCMDs) or
8 GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs (SDB) or AGM-88 radiation anti-radar missile The F-35 has four key airborne electronic systems - Northrop Grumman The company's AN/APG-81 active phased array radar and electro-optical distributed aperture system (EODAS), BAE Systems' integrated electronic warfare system and Lockheed Martin's electro-optical targeting system (EOTS).
EODAS consists of 6 sets of photoelectric detection devices distributed on the F-35 fuselage, which can achieve a 360° surround field of view. The image is projected onto the helmet visor, allowing the pilot to see through his own eyes." "Penetrate" various obstacles to see wide-area outdoor images.
EOTS is a high-performance, lightweight multi-function system that includes a third-generation staring forward-looking infrared (FLIR) system that can accurately detect and identify targets at distances outside the defense zone.
In addition, EOTS also has high-resolution imaging, automatic tracking, infrared search and tracking, laser designation, ranging and laser point tracking functions.
Airborne Radar
The APG-81 AESA radar array on the F-35 is smaller and has only 1,200 transmitting/receiving modules. In addition, the power of the APG-77 (It is said to reach 16.4KW) is much larger than APG-81, so. The F-22A's radar can detect air targets about 1/3 farther than the F-35.
The advantage of APG-81 lies in its ground-to-ground working mode, its synthetic aperture radar mapping (SAR)/ground moving target indication (GMTI)/maritime moving target indication capabilities and other air-to-ground/air-to-sea capabilities The performance in working mode exceeds that of APG-77.
An important feature of the APG-81 is its ability to perform synthetic aperture radar mapping (SAR) and ground moving target indication (GMTI) at the same time, although its detection range of air targets is much smaller than that of the F-22A , but the APG-81's detection capability of air targets is much stronger than the airborne pulse Doppler radar of the F/A-18 series and F-16 series fighter jets. The advantage of APG-81 in the ground working mode is not absolute. It is reported that the United States is starting to upgrade the performance of the F-22A's APG-77 radar by replacing radar modules and upgrading radar software. Soon, the upgrade The performance of the later APG-77 radar will be more powerful in various working modes. Relatively speaking, the performance upgrade space of the APG-81 radar is very small. First of all, the size of the F-35 nose radome is inherently small, and the APG The -81 radar also needs to use the already crowded nose space with the EOTS system. Secondly, the APG-81 radar is limited by its power supply and cooling system. It is difficult to further upgrade the hardware of the APG-81 radar.
In addition, the F-35's APG-81 radar is only half the cost and weight of the F-22, and its working life is expected to reach 8,000 hours, which is consistent with the life of the aircraft, that is, in There is no need to replace the radar during its entire life cycle. In these aspects, the APG-81 radar has obvious advantages, but after replacing some radar modules, the weight and cost of the APG-77 radar will also be significantly reduced and the working life will be extended.
Cockpit
1. LCD screen: display area exceeds that of F-22
Whether compass, horizontal position instrument, speedometer, altimeter, old-fashioned instruments All disappeared in the cockpit of the F-35, replaced by a large LCD screen. Compared with the old MFD display device, this kind of display can not only display more information, but also have richer colors. Since the liquid crystal is not as strong as a traditional CRT monitor, the F-35's display screen is actually composed of two 20×25 cm monitors. In comparison, the F-22 is equipped with three LCD screens - two 17 × 17 cm and one 20 × 20 cm. In terms of display area, "Lightning" II has surpassed "Raptor".
2. Touch screen: display the "most important" information to the greatest extent
What is commendable is not only the larger display area. The F-35's display device creatively uses touch display technology.
F-35 chief test pilot Billis once participated in the development of the F-117 and test flew the F-22. He said that touch display technology had been used on the F-22 prototype, but the related technology was not yet mature, so this technology was not used in the official production model. By the time the F-35 was developed, touch screen technology had become quite mature, greatly reducing the pilot's operational burden.
For example, when a pilot checks the flight control system or chooses to refuel in the air, he used to have to pull several buttons in a jungle-like switch. But now, it's all possible with a touch of the screen. In addition, all radio communications, mission system computers, identification friend or foe, and navigation controls can also be achieved through the touch screen. Moreover, pilots can also customize and segment the F-35's display screen according to the needs of the situation.
For example, two 20 x 25 cm windows, or four 10 x 25 cm windows, or more "Windows" combinations.
Test pilots who have flown the F-35 have reported that this can display the most important information to the greatest extent, such as incoming missiles or targets that need to be hit urgently.
The advanced nature of the F-35 display interface is determined by its complex tasks. Unlike the F-22, which competes for air superiority, the F-35's mission covers a wider range. Pilots are no longer simple drivers, but more advanced air tactical decision-makers. F-35 designers believe that as fighter jets become increasingly complex, showing pilots the status and working status of all systems will only make them exhausted.
As the work interface for air decision-makers, the F-35's display device highlights situational awareness, ensuring that pilots can get the most needed information instead of getting lost in a cockpit full of mechanisms.
The rich colors of the large LCD display provide effective support for situational awareness. For example, friendly targets are displayed in green, suspected targets in yellow, and enemies in red. In addition, blue, magenta, and gray are also used to display different subsystems, such as fuel, flight control, and weapons.
Design concept: pilot-centered
Users' needs are the basis. Different from previous aircraft, the F-35 cockpit design took into account the opinions of a large number of pilots in the initial stage.
Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Karness has flown F/A-18 Hornets and Harriers. He is a member of the high-level team that designs and tests the F-35 cockpit. In his words, the F-35 cockpit design should not only be based on the perspectives of pilots from the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps, but also from the perspective of pilots from the United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Italy, Turkey, and Australia. From a pilot's perspective.
The conventional type and vertical take-off and landing type of F-35 have their own characteristics. Pilots from different countries have different heights. The F-35 cockpit can be adjusted according to the pilot's stature from short (1.4 meters tall, weighing 45 kilograms) to tall (1.95 meters tall, weighing 113 kilograms). Flying an airplane relies on the control stick and throttle. The design of the F-35 control stick and throttle fully reflects the pilot-centered thinking. In order to adapt to the body shape and arm length of pilots from different countries, the positions of the throttle lever on the right side and the left steering column of the F-35 can be adjusted accordingly. In high-speed maneuvering operations, pilots may not be able to access the touch screen, so they can turn on and off different display modes through the controllers on the throttle stick and steering column to achieve hands-free control.
The F-35's control stick and throttle lever are active and can provide feedback to the pilot based on the flight envelope and flight mode. For example, when a vertical take-off and landing type is landing or taking off, the pilot may control the throttle too much or too little. At this time, the active throttle lever will automatically modify or compensate, and the pilot can feel the change in the automatic feedback of the throttle lever.
It is particularly important to point out that although the F-35's throttle lever can be automatically controlled, the pilot does not have to worry about it cutting off the power of the aircraft in case of malfunction, because this throttle lever does not have the authority to cut off power. In fact, cutting off power is controlled by a separate lever switch. Likewise, pilots can feel "interactive" communication with the F-35 when using the control column.
In addition, pilots can program and modify the stick force and deviation to meet their own requirements.
4. Voice control system: replaces a lot of keyboard input work
In addition to the intelligent throttle and steering column, the F-35 also introduces a voice control system. Similar technology was once used on the French Rafale fighter jets. In the imagination of ordinary people, the voice control system seems to be faster and more adaptable to the requirements of air combat. In some science fiction movies, pilots use words and even thoughts to control future fighter jets.
However, in actual use, researchers found that the speed of voice control is not as flexible as fingertips. Especially when decisions need to be made against the clock in an air combat, the buttons on the joystick are more efficient than voice control.
In the F-35 cockpit, the purpose of voice control applications is to replace a large number of keyboard input tasks, such as binding navigation coordinates with a large series of numbers, radio frequencies, maximum range fuel capacity, etc.
5. Virtual Helmet Display: The first fighter aircraft to use this device
Benefits of Helmet Display With the development of aircraft, the protective function of flight helmets is gradually reduced, and the function of obtaining information is gradually reduced. But it is constantly increasing. You may have heard of Russian helmet sights, and you may have seen the United States’ Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS), but they are all lagging behind. The F-35 will be the world's first fighter jet to use a virtual helmet-mounted display. The display device installed on the helmet projects the image directly onto the pilot's mask.
With powerful computing and processing capabilities, the F-35's virtual helmet display truly realizes "what you see is what you get." On the F-35, the "vanity mirror" that pilots have used for decades is missing. The pilot can turn his head in different directions at will to obtain real-time information about the target, and then carry out aiming attacks.
The pilot only has to turn his own head, not the plane's, to attack. The virtual helmet-mounted display also changes the shortcomings of the narrow field of view of the head-up display. For example, when using a forward-looking infrared system, it was difficult for the past head-up display to display the infrared image at the real position, but the virtual helmet-mounted display can do this.
The virtual helmet-mounted display can also be connected to the F-35's 360-degree infrared sensing array, allowing pilots to see what's happening behind them. Edit this paragraph | Back to top Weapons and bomb bays Under the premise of being invisible, the F-35 and F-22 both use built-in bomb bays, but the F-35 is different from the F-22. The latter is an air superiority fighter. The F-35 is a multi-role fighter. The F-22's bomb bay cannot accommodate 1,000-pound class (450 kilograms) ground attack weapons like the GBU-31 and AGM-154 "Jessow". The F-35's bomb bay must be able to accommodate these big guys.
In addition, the F-35 is also equipped with many new ground attack weapons, such as the GBU-39 small diameter bomb that has just entered service. Judging from public information, the F-35's internal bomb bay can carry up to 8 GBU-39 small diameter bombs and 2 AIM-120 missiles at the same time, with a total weight of about 1,200 kilograms. This is only the mounting capability in full stealth state.
The F-35 carries a huge amount of fuel inside the aircraft. Taking the naval version as an example, the aircraft carries as much as 8.9 tons of fuel, which is more than 2 tons more than the F-15 twin-engine heavy fighter and is at the same level as the Su-27 Roughly the same. This means that when the F-35 performs most missions, it does not need to mount auxiliary fuel tanks, and all external hardpoints can mount attack weapons.
Although the total bomb load is not as good as that of the F-15E, its effectiveness is greatly increased, and it is theoretically capable of attacking 22 air and ground targets. From this point of view, the mission complexity of the F-35 far exceeds that of existing fighter jets.
The F-35B will also be equipped with new weapons. It may carry two miniature joint air defense area-launched air-to-ground missiles inside the aircraft, and it may also be equipped with a small cruise missile (SMACM). It has the ability to carry out various types of weapons. The ability to hit moving targets under weather conditions, with a range of 450 kilometers. The F-35B fighter jet can carry eight SMACM cruise missiles. Edit this paragraph | Back to top Stealth design The F-35's stealth design draws on many technologies and experiences from the F-22. Its RCS (radar reflection area) analysis and calculation uses whole-machine computer simulation (integrating the air inlet, suction Wave material/structure, etc.), it is more advanced, comprehensive and accurate than the F-117A's segmented simulation synthesis, while ensuring that the body surface adopts a continuous surface design. The minimum frontal RCS of the F-35A is estimated to be 1 square meter, which is lower than the Su-27 and F-15 (the empty forward RCS is more than 10 square meters). Since the F-35 weapon adopts an internal mounting method, it will not cause an increase in RCS, and the stealth advantage will be more obvious.
In terms of infrared stealth, it can be inferred from some data that the aircraft will weaken the infrared radiation intensity of the 3-5 micron medium wave band of the tail nozzle when the thrust loss is only 2%-3%. At the same time, the width of the infrared radiation lobe is narrowed, reducing the attack area of ??infrared-guided air-to-air missiles.
The stealth design of the F-35 not only reduces the detection distance, but also changes the radar scattering and infrared radiation center of the entire aircraft, resulting in an increase in the miss rate of incoming missiles. In this way, the aircraft's active jammers, fiber-optic towed radar decoys, advanced infrared decoy bombs and other countermeasures equipment will be more effective.
According to calculations based on relevant models, the forward RCS of the F-35 is 0.1 square meters. Compared with the situation of 10 square meters, under the same conditions, the former's beyond-visual-range air combat effectiveness is about 5 times higher than that of the latter. Edit this paragraph | Back to top Power The power system of the early mass production version of the F-35 aircraft is Pratt. The F135 turbofan engine produced by Whitney Company is an improved model of the F119-PW-100 engine equipped on the F-22A fighter jet. Its maximum thrust reaches 181.4 kN. It exceeds the maximum thrust of the F119-PW-100 (about 15.8 tons) by as much as 12.5%; the maximum military thrust of the F135 reaches 131 kilonewtons, while the maximum military thrust of the F119-PW-100 is only 118 kilonewtons. Therefore, the F135 is the most powerful fighter engine ever built.
The F135 uses the core engine of the F119, with an efficient 6-stage high-pressure compressor, a 1-stage high-pressure turbine and an efficient fan (driven by a 2-stage low-pressure turbine). The F135 adopts BAE Systems' fully authoritative digital engine control system (FADEC). In order to improve the reliability and supportability of the engine, the F135 uses a large number of field replaceable components (LRC). The number of parts is reduced by approximately 40% compared to the F119. . According to the plan, F135-PW-100 will be used as the power system of the F-35A Air Force version; F135-PW-400 will be used as the power system of the F-35C Navy version; and F135-PW-600 will be used as the power system of the F-35B Marine version. power.
The research and development of the F135 engine is currently progressing steadily. The current operating time of the F135 engine has reached 7,400 hours. Tests to evaluate the durability of the F135 engine and the lift fan of the STOVL aircraft are in progress. The lift fan has been tested for 1,000 hours of operation. In addition, 500 connectors that connect the lift fan to the clutch of the F135 engine (or F136 engine, if the latter can be retained) are also about to be completed.
The conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) F-35 weighs 13.15 tons when empty, and its internal fuel carrying capacity is approximately 8.16 tons. Its internal bomb bay can carry 8 SDBII diameter bombs; the F-22A’s empty aircraft The weight of the aircraft is approximately 18.14 tons, and the fuel carrying capacity is approximately 9.37 tons. Its internal bomb bay can also carry 8 GBU-39/B/p diameter bombs SDB. It can be seen that the difference in weight/internal fuel range and bomb load between the medium-sized F-35 and the heavy-duty F-22A is not large.