F-22 Raptor question?

Question

I dont know if anyone could answer this truthfully or not but i want to take a shot.

Back in the 90's I heard a interesting look at the F-22 Raptor.

It said that the plane had two... very interesting abilities that you dont read about in newspapers.

1. most planes when your engaging a enemy fighter you have to lock onto the enemy and then fire. I am not sure if heat seakers give off any warning but this mostly is about radar missiles. In the F-22 Raptor i heard it works a little different.

The pilot would spot the enemy plane and some how program this missile to attack that plane-target. however it would not lock its radar onto the target.. yet.

When the missile was within like 100 yards then it would use a onboard radar to lock on. This was designed i understand for minimum chance of escape.

2. The chamelion affect. I have heard there is something on the f-22 that can make it look as blue (or whatever color) as the sky around it. Someone told me it was mirrors. but

i dont know..

ok thats my two questions.

Can anyone tell me if either are true? can anyone tell me how their done?

Answer 1

The f-22 raptor is still a highly secretive plane. as for the missles im sure it uses the standard aim 9 side winder. how it works is by locking on th ir trail of a plane. as for the skin of the air crat all i know is that it has r.a.m. on it (radar absorbing material) thats about it

Answer 2

I know that there is research being done into "visual stealth", but I am not aware of it being put to any kind of practical use. The F/A-22 Raptor (as do the majority of all military aircraft) carries a mottled grey paint scheme that tends to blend into whatever the surrounding is.

As for the missles, new advances in radar and missle design mean that it is now no longer necessary for the firing aircraft to maintain a radar lock on the target, just long enough for the missle's own tracking unit to engage (1-2 seconds, if that long). That is due more in part to missle advancement rather than the F-22 itself. The Raptor does have the capability to use an Apache style targeting unit that would fit onto the pilots helmet, so the missle would be programmed to turn in the direction he is looking to aquire it's target.

Answer 3

well, for starters:

1) developements in payload are ALWAYS in the works. I would not be surprised in the slightest if the type of missile you describe did exist in prototype form. However, the AIM 9 provides plenty of superior A to A power so is going to be the standard in AA payloads for some time yet.

2) as to chamelion paint, this has existed for quite some time. By running electricity through the surface, a paint can change between two colors (most likely for a jet you would choose black for night and then a combo blue bottom/green top for day missions). HOWEVER this technology is very expensive and impractical. There's really no reason to hide our planes from vision these days because air fights are generally decided by missiles at ranges beyond effective sight identification. The more important part is the standard radar absorbing paint used in conjunction with the shape of the fuselage to reduce the radar signature... in effect making the plane invisible to missile (which are much more dangerous than enemy gunfire).

Answer 4

that chameleon paint is not true the paint is actually designed to ward off infrared radar
the missles are internal and they self lock on multiple targets
and the guns are able to fire at any direction,even backwards!
this jet does everything on its own.very boring compared to the f-14

Answer 5

I'm not sure about the misslie system, but it is not identifiable on radar, thats really the reasone its such a coveted plan