For those of you who're still interested in the F-22, here's a bit of information of it (xposted).
Bill Sweetman had an article on the F-22 in the current issue of International Air Power Review. That, along with some documents I've read on the web (one of which I posted, showing a comparison of F-22 and F-15 flight envelopes), have revealed some of the impressive capabilities of the F-22.
First, the F-22 is the first operational USAF fighter cleared to operate at altitudes in excess of 60,000 ft without a pressure suit for the pilot. Apparently, the construction of the G-suit for the F-22 is such that it can act as a partial pressure suit for the pilot, allowing him to retain consciousness in the event of a cabin pressurization failure. The current limit for US fighters is 50,000 ft. No biggie, you're thinking? Read on.
One of the most salient features of the comparison of F-22 and F-15 flight performance was its ability to pull high-G turns at altitudes and speeds far in excess of any current fighter. At its upper altitude limit of around 60,000 ft plus, the F-22 can maintain at least a 5-G turn from Mach 0.9 up to about Mach 1.7. This ability to turn is acheived through the thrust vectoring nozzles, which provide pitch and roll control at altitudes where conventional aerodynamic surfaces lose effectiveness.
This leads to some pretty interesting conclusions. With its ability to cruise and maneuver effectively at high speeds and very high altitudes, the F-22 will be a bear to shoot down with current and planned generations of SAMs. In fact, I would hazard to guess that only the S-300/400 family (SA-10, SA-12, and SA-20) will possess sufficient energy and turning capability at those altitudes to pose much of a threat, aerodynamically speaking. Most other missiles will be so low on energy by the time they reach that altitude, and so limited in maneuver by their control surfaces, that successfully engaging the F-22 will be nearly impossible. It is true that many missiles are listed as having altitude capabilities in excess of 80,000 ft, including the widely used SA-2 and SA-3 variants, but, these missiles will be severely limited in energy and ability to maneuver, so that any F-22 that gets targeted by these systems should be able to outmaneuver them at altitude.
Furthermore, the speed and turning ability of the F-22 will pose severe problems for the missile's guidance systems. Paul Metz, F-22 chief program pilot for Lockheed, stated that most, if not all, current missiles targeted from any direction save from a narrow cone directly ahead of the F-22 (where F-22 stealth is at its most effective), will be incapable of maintaining a track on the F-22 due to avionics limitations. In essence, the missiles will have to turn so fast to maintain a lock on the F-22 that they will encounter gimble lock, resulting in a failure of missile guidance and control. Most of today's missiles are optimized to track targets at altitudes of around 20K to 30K feet, travelling at speeds from Mach 0.7 to Mach 1.3. Dealing with a target traveling at 60K+ feet traveling at Mach 1.7+ will be beyond the capabilities of most current and planned adversary air defense systems.
So, on the off chance that an F-22 is tracked and targeted by an air defense system, which will be difficult at best given its low observable characteristics, the F-22 should be far better equipped to defeat SAM attacks than any other aircraft in service. In fact, it will be extremely difficult to down, given current air defense technology. Until directed energy weapons become widespread, the F-22 should be able to perform its missions with near impunity.
Oh, and the official F-22 top speed has been released. It is Mach 2.0, limited by aerodynamic surface heating considerations. Paul Metz stated that the F-22 can easily exceed this speed, and that training pilots to avoid stressing the airframe through overspeed will need to be taken into account.
