Marietta, Ga. (Sept. 17 1999) --America's F-22 Raptor air superiority fighter reached a much-anticipated milestone recently when Raptor 4004's advanced avionics suite was turned on for the first time. The event signaled that the new fighter will soon be ready to prove its enhanced ability to detect and destroy enemies at long range.

Raptor 4004 is the first F-22 with the program's Block 1.1 avionics installed. Electrical power was applied to the aircraft's Common Integrated Processors, or CIPs, on August 31 by engineers at Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems, Marietta, Ga., where the Raptor's final assembly occurs.

The F-22's CIP serves as the "brains" of the aircraft's totally-integrated avionics system, which, when combined with stealth and supercruise, will provide U.S. air forces with a "first-look, first-shot, first-kill" capability, or an ability to see at long range without being seen and to kill without being killed.

According to program managers, these capabilities are vital to continued U.S. air superiority in the next century. "We've reached another critical step to proving system maturity," said Gerry Freisthler, deputy director for the F-22 program office here. "Avionics power-on means we're a little bit closer to providing operational line pilots with the technology they need to dominate the skies in the 21st century."

Raptor 4004 is equipped with an integrated suite of offensive, defensive, and communications / navigation / identification (CNI) avionics -- along with the F-22's powerful AN-APG-77 electronically-scanned, multi-mode radar array, which is being developed as part of the ongoing F-22 development and test program.

By integrating all radar, electronic warfare, and identification sensor data -- as well as data for communication, navigation, weapons, and systems status into coherent, fused Power On 2-2-2 information accessible via multi-functional displays -- the pilot is able to concentrate on flying the aircraft and winning the air battle versus operating sensor systems.

"The Raptor's advanced avionics system is state-of-the-art and will free the pilot from complex information handling and assimilation," said Mike Harris, Boeing F-22 avionics program director. "In testing to date, the avionics are performing as advertised."

The Boeing Co., Seattle, Wash., responsible for integrating the Raptor's advanced avionics, completed more than 9,000 hours of testing in its avionics integration lab (AIL) and more than 170 hours on its 757 Flying Test Bed prior to delivery of Block 1.1 in late May. The F-22 is built by contractors Lockheed Martin and Boeing, along with engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney, West Palm Beach, Fla. (Article Courtesy Lockheed Martin Aeronautical systems news.)