F-22 fighter jet scrapes tail on runway during Pearl Harbor anniversary causing $1.8million damage

An F-22 fighter jet used in a flyover during a remembrance ceremony at Pearl Harbor scraped its tail on a runway as it landed, causing $1.8 million in damage.
A Hawaii National Guard spokesman says nobody was hurt in the incident Friday morning on the 71st anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Lt. Col. Charles Anthony says the jet was coming back to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam from a training exercise after taking part in the ceremony. He says the 'mishap' happened roughly 90 minutes after the flyover.

In jet terms, the damage to the F-22's horizontal stabilizers may be little more than a pricey fender-bender.
Anthony says it costs roughly $147 million to make one F-22 fighter.
The nation's F-22 fighter jets were grounded for four months last year after pilots complained of experiencing a lack of oxygen that can cause dizziness and blackouts.

An Air Force advisory panel studied the problem for seven months but couldn't identify the cause. The panel supported a plan to keep the aircraft flying with pilots using special sensors, filters and other safety precautions.
In May, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta ordered that F-22 flights remain 'within proximity of potential landing locations' so that pilots can land quickly in the event they experience an oxygen-deficit problem.

F-22 Raptor crashes at Tyndall AFB

An F-22 Raptor crashed Nov. 15, at 3:30 p.m. on Tyndall Air Force , Fla., one quarter mile east of the drone runway.

Highway 98 has been closed from Dupont Bridge to the "Welcome to Mexico Beach" sign as a safety precaution. The incident is not on Highway 98.

The pilot ejected from the aircraft safely and  is currently under supervision of the 325th Medical Group. First responders are on scene.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation and additional details will be provided as soon as they become available.

U.S. Air Force Seeks F-22 Cooperation with Allies

A senior U.S. Air Force commander has opened the door to joint coalition operations with the stealthy F-22 Raptor fighter. Speaking at the International Fighter Conference organized in London by IQPC, Maj. Gen. Larry Wells, commander of the Ninth Air Force, said “We need our partners to get involved with the F-22 in exercises.”
Until now, the security classification surrounding America’s top-of-the-line interceptor has precluded meaningful cooperation with allied air forces. But Wells noted that the U.S. fleet of stealth airplanes is not large enough to conduct major strike operations alone. “We must integrate with other fourth- and fifth-generation aircraft,” he said. Wells said that exercises with U.S. Air Force F-15s and F-16s have already been stepped up. At present, F-22 pilots can communicate with other aircraft only by voice, but a Link 16 receive capability will be added next year, Wells revealed. He said that F-22s “pass a lot of high-fidelity data [among] themselves” via their unique datalink, but cannot yet communicate even with other U.S. stealth aircraft such as the B-2 or the F-35. Addition of the F-35’s multifunction advanced datalink (MADL) will eventually provide that capability, Wells added.

F-22 Raptor's oxygen systems may be altered, Air Force says

The Air Force is considering making changes to the F-22 Raptor's oxygen supply system, including some that were proposed nearly a decade ago, a senior general told a congressional subcommittee Thursday.
Maj. Gen. Charles Lyon said the service decided in 2005 not to make recommended changes that would have better regulated oxygen supplied to pilots. At the time, respiratory problems reported by pilots were not considered serious.
Since then, many more breathing problems have been reported, Lyon said, and the Air Force "has learned a lot" about physiological effects unique to the F-22.
Pilots have reported becoming disoriented while flying the plane.
"We're looking at making broader changes that would incorporate those [2005] suggestions," Lyon said.
He was responding to a question by Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., who asked specifically about a report in Thursday's Star-Telegram that the Air Force did not make changes that would have helped control the respiratory issues.

Romney wants to buy more F-22s

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Saturday he would buy more F-22 Raptors as part of his plan to reverse many of the defense cuts planned by the Obama administration.

Romney told a Virginia Beach, Va., television station he would not include the military in the spending cuts he is proposing to cut down the U.S. deficit.
“Rather than completing nine ships per year, I’d move that up to 15. I’d also add F-22s to our Air Force fleet. And I’d add about 100,000 active duty personnel to our military team,” Romney said in the interview. “I think the idea of shrinking our military to try and get closer to balancing our budget is the wrong place to look.”
He’s repeated his plan to increase ship building from nine to 15 ships per year and add 100,000 active duty troops to the military’s end strength. However, this is the first time he’s mentioned any plans to buy more F-22s.
F-22 production was famously ended by former Defense Secretary Robert Gates after the Air Force had fought for the U.S. to buy more fifth generation fighter jets. Air Force leaders wanted to buy 243 F-22s, Gates halted production at 187. Originally, the Air Force wanted to buy more than 750 Raptors.
The last U.S. F-22 rolled off the production line in 2011. The Raptor program has since come under scrutiny after a string of pilots have suffered hypoxia-like symptoms and struggled to breathe in flight. Air Force officials claim to have found the cause, but it has repeatedly grounded the F-22 fleet the past two years and continue to impose flight restrictions.
Air Force leaders pushed to build more F-22s to add to the fleet because they warned a fleet of 187 would be insufficient to defeat an enemy with a top line air force like China. Former Air Force Chief of Staffs Gen. Norton Schwartz and Gen. Michael “Buzz” Moseley argued the costs of re-opening the production line would be too costly to build up the fleet if Congress changed its mind and wanted more F-22s.
If Romney wins and follows through on his plan to buy more F-22s, it would cost at least $900 million to reopen the F-22 production line, according to Loren Thompson, a consultant for Lockheed Martin and other defense companies.

U.S. commander: F-22 planes "100 percent" safe

The deployment of a dozen F-22 stealth fighters to Japan has so far gone off without a hitch as the aircraft are being brought back into the skies in their first overseas mission since restrictions were imposed over incidents involving pilots getting dizzy and disoriented, a senior U.S. Air Force commander told the Associated Press on Thursday.
The six-month mission is a key test for the fighters, which have been the focus of intensive investigations over potentially deadly breathing problems in the cockpit.
Following more than a dozen incidents in which pilots said they were having symptoms suggesting they were not getting enough oxygen, and a fatal crash in 2010 that has since been ruled primarily a case of pilot error, the F-22 fleet was grounded for several months last year. It was put under restrictions again in May after two pilots came forward with claims that the aircraft weren't safe to fly.

The F22 defeated by German fighter pilots

Invited to an air combat exercise with their Typhoon based on Eielson last June, the Germans had the opportunity to confront, in the skies of Alaska, the best fighter in the world, the F22 Raptor .

The F22 Raptor, whose unit price is around $ 400 million, was recently allowed to resume flights now that the source of problems is identified drivers of hypoxia. That's good news for the USAF. The bad news is that the French Mirage 2000-9 (on loan from the UAE) and the Germans on Typhoon found the weak point of Rraptor: close combat.

What the F-22 vs. the Typhoon tells us

The anti-F-22 crowd over at Wired bring up some great points about the F-22 and Typhoon. Also, they may have overlooked or just didn't get around to mentioning some other things in the big picture of air power emerging threats.

For starters, while the F-22 may face some challenges in air-to-air combat, anything less than that is going to suffer a hard time in coming anti-access threat scenarios.

With the Typhoon, consider that (except for its F-18-class airframe profile), its speed and performance mimic some of the SU-35 capability. The SU-35 is the non-stealth reference threat for the Pacific in coming years. It was designed to exploit the Raptor. However many of the SU-35 are made, expect its technology to bleed elsewhere.

One big difference between the F-22 and the Typhoon is that one of them is going to have more difficulty in a high-end SAM environment.

Under restrictions, F-22 fighters arrive in Japan

A group of U.S. F-22 stealth fighters arrived in Japan on Saturday in what the Air Force hopes will be a step toward proving that its prized aircraft are safe after a mysterious oxygen problem that was making pilots sick.
The F-22s arrived at Kadena Air Base from the United States and were expected to remain on the base, on Japan's southern island of Okinawa, for several months. Japanese media said eight of the aircraft had arrived by Saturday evening. Another four were expected to arrive later. Base officials were not immediately available for comment.
The F-22, manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corp., is the Air Force's most advanced stealth fighter. It was built to evade radar and is capable of flying at faster-than-sound speeds without using afterburners.

But the fleet has been under tight flight restrictions since mid-May because pilots were reporting dizziness and other symptoms of hypoxia.
The Air Force says the deployment to Japan is a first step toward returning to normal. Before they left, the Air Force said the aircraft would take a special route to ensure they had possible landing sites along the way and would fly at lower altitudes, where the cockpit oxygen issue is less problematic.

Not aware of any potential sale of F-22 to India: Pentagon

The Pentagon has said that it is not aware of any potential sale of F-22 fighter jets to India.
''I'm not aware of a potential F-22 sale to India,'' the Pentagon Press Secretary, George Little, told reporters at a news conference.

"I'll let you know if I hear differently," Little said when asked about the possibility of sale of F-22 to India.

F-22 Raptor is a single-seat, twin-engine fifth-generation super maneuverable fighter aircraft that uses stealth technology.

It was designed primarily as an air superiority fighter, but has additional capabilities that include ground attack, electronic warfare, and signals intelligence roles.

Despite that countries like Japan and Australia have shown interest in it, the export of F-22 is barred by American federal law.

World's best jet fighters

1. F/A-22 Raptor

 The F/A-22 Raptor is a fifth generation stealth fighter aircraft, which entered the United States Air Force as the F-22A. Manufacturer: Lockheed Martin Aeronautics and Boeing Integrated Defense Systems Engine Specifications: Two Pratt & Whitney F-119-PW-100 Turbofan engines with afterburners and two-dimensional thrust-vectoring nozzles. Each Engine is in the 35,000-lb-thrust class. Maximum Speed: Mach 2.42 at high altitude Cruise Speed: Mach 1.72.  This pilot only aircraft can carry six radar-guided AIM-120C advanced medium-range A2A missiles in its main weapon bay, two heat-seeking AIM-9 Sidewinder short-range A2A missiles in side weapons bay, one M61A2 20 mm multi-barrel cannon. With this much onboard, the plane still manages to carry four external stations with additional arsenal.

2. B2 Spirit

 The B2 Spirit is a multi-role stealth bomber which is capable to drop conventional and nuclear weapons. The development of this aircraft can be seen as a milestone in the bomber modernization program of the U.S. Department of Defense. Manufacturer: Northrop Corporation and Northrop Grumman. Engine Specifications: Four General Electric F118-GE-100 non-afterburning turbofans each providing it with 19,000 lb thrust. Maximum Speed: Mach 0.92.  The B-2 provides the versatility inherent in manned bombers. The aircraft comes with unique 'stealth' characteristics that give it the ability to hide itself from enemy's most sophisticated defenses enabling it to attack right from the enemy's prime locations. The B-2 can carry a crew of 2-3 soldiers along with up to 80,000 lb payload including 16 B61/b83 nuclear bombs, 80 Mk82 1,000 lb bombs or 16 Mk84 2,000 lb bombs, 36 M117 750 lb fire bombs, 36 cluster bombs, or 80 Mk36 1,000 lb sea mines.

3. Su-47

 The Sukhoi Su-47 was also called as S-37 and S-32 during initial development. The aircraft has been fully developed but till now it has not entered service. Manufacturer: SukhoiEngine Specifications: Two Aviadvigatel D-30F6 afterburning turbofans. The company plans to incorporate two Saturn / Lyulka AL-37FU afterburning Turbofans in it. Maximum Speed: Mach 2.09 at high altitude Maximum Cruise Speed: Mach 1.17. This pilot only aircraft can carry one 30mm GSh-30 cannon, R-27/AA-10 Alamo A2A missile, and R-73/AA-11 Archer A2A missile.

 

4. MiG-35

 The Milkoyan MiG-35 is a mature development of MiG-29M. The aircraft has also been fully developed and is on offer; however it still has not entered service. Manufacturer: MilkoyanEngine Specifications: Two Lyulka AL-41F vectored-thrust afterburning turbofans, 39,340 lb thrust each. Maximum Speed at high altitude: Mach 2.05 Maximum Cruise Speed: Mach 1.02.  One 30 mm GSh-30-1 cannon with 150 rounds, eight weapons pylons for R-27, R-60, R-73, R-77, TV and Laser-Guided Air to Ground missiles and bombs. In addition, the aircraft can also carry up to 2,000 lb of bombs.

5. F-117A Nighthawk

 The F-117A Nighthawk is the world's first operational aircraft designed to exploit low-observable stealth technology. Manufacturer: Lockheed Martin Engine Specifications: Two General Electric F404-F1D2 turbofans which offer 10,600 lbf each. Maximum Speed: Mach 0.92. The single-seat F-117A provides exceptional combat capabilities. It is designed to carry 2 internal weapons bays with one hardpoint each, which can further carry BLU-109 hardened penetrator bombs, GBU-10 Paveway II, GBU-12 Paveway II and GBU-27 Paveway III laser-guided bombs and JDAM inertially aided munition

6. F-35 Lightning II

 The F-35 Lightning II is a single-seat, single-engine military strike fighter. Its multi-role capabilities enable it to perform close air support, tactical bombings and air-to-air combat. Manufacturer: Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems. Engine Specifications: One Pratt & Whitney F135 afterburning turbofan that offers 28,000 lbf as dry thrust and 43,000 lbf with afterburner support. Maximum Speed: Mach 1.8.  The F-35 Lightning II is designed to carry 1 GAU-12/U 25 mm cannon, up to four AIM-120 AMRAAM, AIM-9X Sidewinder or AIM-132 ASRAAM internally or two air-to-air and two air-to-ground weapons. The aircraft is detectable by Radar so it can also carry many more missiles, bombs and even fuel tanks.

7. F-16 Fighting Falcon

 This is a multirole jet fighter designed for the United States Air Force. The aircraft was also successful in the export market and is serving 24 countries. Manufacturer: General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin Engine Specifications: One Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-220 afterburning turbofan which offers 14,590 lbf as dry thrust and 23,770 lbf with afterburner support. Maximum Speed: Mach 2. This single-seat aircraft can carry one 20 mm M61 Vulcan gatling gun with 511 rounds, 2.75-inch rockets, six AIM-9 Sidewinder or six AIM-120 AMRAAM or six Python-4 air-to-air missiles, six AGM-65 Maverick or four AGM-88 HARM air-to-ground missiles, four AGM-119 Penguin anti-ship missiles. Apart from this it can carry a huge arsenal of bombs that include B61 nuclear bomb. 

8. JF-17 Thunder

 The Joint Fighter-17 Thunder is also called as Fighter China-1 Fierce DragonIIII in China. It is a single-seat multirole fighter aircraft co-developed by Pakistan and China. Manufacturer:Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation and Pakistan Aeronautical Complex. Engine Specifications: One Russian-made RD-93 turbofan that offers 18,277 lbf. Maximum Speed: Mach 1.8.  The JF-17 Thunder carries one internal GSh-23-2 twin-barrel 23 mm cannon, Short (PL-9C/AIM-9M/Magic 2) and beyond-visual-range missiles (SD-10/Aspide), laser guided bombs, other guided munitions and targeting pod can also be carried for precision strike missions.

 

9. Eurofighter 2000 Typhoon

 The Eurofighter 2000 Typhoon is a single-seat, twin-engine, agile combat aircraft which will be used in the air-to-air, air-to-ground and tactical reconnaissance roles. Manufacturer:Eurofighter GmbH Engine Specifications: Two Eurojet EJ200 afterburning turbofans with offer 13,500 lbf as dry thrust and 20,250 lbf with afterburner support. Maximum speed at high altitude: Mach 2.25 Maximum cruise speed: Mach 1.2.  This jet fighter is designed to carry one 27 mm Mauser BK-27 cannon, AIM-9 Sidewinder, AIM-132 ASRAAM, AIM-120 AMRAAM and IRIS-T air-to-air missiles, AGM-84 Harpoon, AGM-88 HARM, ALARMs, Storm Shadow, Brimstone, Taurus and Penguin air-to-ground missiles, bombs and LITENING pod laser designator.

10. Su-37 Terminator

 The Su-37 is Russia's reply to today's advanced jet fighters. The Su-37 can be considered as the best air dominance fighter in the Eastern hemisphere. The Su-37 is a single-seat, all-weather fighter and ground attack aircraft. Manufacturer: Sukhoi Engine Specifications: Two Lyulka AL-37FU turbofans each delivering 32,000 lbf. Maximum Speed: Mach 2.09.  The Sukhoi Su-37 can carry one 30 mm GSh-30 cannon with 150 rounds and twelve wing and fuselage stations for up to 18,080 lb of ordnance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Military probes F-22 mishap at Tyndall Air Force Base

The Air Force is not calling a “ground incident” involving an F-22 Raptor last week a “crash.”
The F-22 was in a “touch-and-go” practice session at about 5 p.m. Thursday when it was put out of commission. The “ground incident” put the plane on the sidelines and benched the pilot, officials said.
“Everything around this is in freeze frame right now,” said Herman Bell, chief of Tyndall’s 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs.
Base officials would not comment on how the plane made contact with the ground, nor would base officials give any indication of whether the “incident” was mechanical or pilot error. The pilot was not injured in the incident.
“It is all under investigation,” Bell said.
Bell said the pilot had been flying F-16s and had little experience with the F-22. “It was his second flight in the F-22,” he said.
The F-22 Raptor became the center of attention last summer after pilots reported being lightheaded after flying the aircraft. The plane was on “stand down” for three months.
The Air Force has been conducting investigations into problems with the F-22’s oxygen system with little success.
Tyndall Air Force Base is the home of the 325th Fighter Wing, whose primary mission is to provide air training for F-22 Raptor pilots, as well as maintenance personnel and air battle managers.
The F-22 is one of the most advanced and expensive aircraft every constructed for the military. According to the Government Accountability Office, the per plane cost is $412 million.

Read more: http://www.newsherald.com/articles/tyndall-103215-mishap-probes.html#ixzz1x6MjGQzE

New Flight Restrictions Haven't Curbed F-22 Operations

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 5, 2012 – Safety measures put in place last month on F-22 Raptor flights have had no impact on operations, Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. John Kirby told reporters today.
Kirby and Pentagon Press Secretary George Little last month announced restrictions to F-22 flight operations after 12 pilots reported hypoxia-like symptoms.
In response, Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta directed the retrofitting of automatic backup oxygen systems in the Raptor.
The Air Force is investigating the issue and providing monthly reports to Panetta.
In addition, all F-22 flights were ordered to remain near potential landing locations to enable quick recovery and landing should a pilot encounter problems during flight, Little said last month.
There are no plans to ground the aircraft, but Kirby said the Defense Department remains prepared for all possibilities.
“It's a safety-of-flight issue,” he said. “Secretary Panetta understands that, and he's not taking any options off the table with respect to the future of the aircraft.”
“Right now the aircraft is performing very well in an operational setting and … we're just going to continue to watch this as we move forward,” Kirby said.

A U.S. decision to send Air Force F-22 Raptors to the United Arab Emirates apparently is more than a mere training mission, according to informed sources close to the U.S. intelligence community, Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin reports.

The sources suggest that despite continuing technical problems lurking within the advanced multi-purpose fighter, the Raptors are being staged in the UAE in preparation to assist the Israelis should they decide to launch a military attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Israel and the U.S. believe the Islamic republic is developing nuclear weapons.

The jets also would be used to bolster the military capabilities of the U.S.-backed Gulf Arab countries.

The dispatch of the Raptors is said to be part of a new but untested Defense Department Air Sea Battle, or ASB, strategy to keep open the vital Strait of Hormuz through which up to 40 percent of the world’s oil and other commerce transit.

The Iranians have threatened to shut down the narrow Strait that touches Iranian territorial waters at one point.

Such a shutdown, even for a short time, would cause major economic disruptions in an already serious global economic downturn, which is getting worse by the day.

The Raptors would supplement an Israeli attack that could deploy U.S.-made aircraft, nuclear-capable Jericho II missiles and nuclear-capable cruise missiles on electric submarines acquired from Germany.

The ASB strategy appears to be what Defense Secretary Leon Panetta referred to recently when he said that the U.S. had contingency plans in place to back up Israel should it attack Iran’s nuclear facilities.

The ASB, according to the open intelligence service Lignet’s former intelligence officers, would have the Raptors perform “exotic jobs” such as tracking Iranian submarine-launched cruise missiles and turning the missiles around to hit targets inside Iran.

The uncertainty in this scenario is that the Raptors are untested in combat and continue to experience some serious technical issues.

For example the oxygen supply to the pilots can fail, which not only endangers their lives but could crash this almost half-a-billion-dollar aircraft.

More Work Needed on F-22, F-35 Oxygen Problems, Experts Say

Does F-35 Have Same Oxygen Problems As F-22? More Oversight Needed, Say Experts
 
Given the recent allegations by F-22 Raptor pilots that the aircraft has potentially deadly oxygen-system problems, it’s not surprising that questions are also being raised about the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter—which has strikingly similar design elements. Lockheed Martin, which makes both aircrafts, has recently said that “the F-35 and F-22 have common aircraft oxygen system suppliers, but the systems are very different.”
 
But a ‘concerned’ POGO commenter asked us if there’s any chance the F-35 could have the same oxygen problems, anyways. Not content to simply parrot Lockheed’s answer, we decided to pose the question to two defense experts: Winslow Wheeler, the director of POGO's Straus Military Reform Project and Pierre Sprey, who co-designed the F-16 and A-10 jets.
 
You can read their full responses below, but the short answer is, there is still a lot more monitoring that needs to be done on the F-35 before Lockheed or the Air Force can conclusively say that the aircraft is safe (not to mention, the F-22—which very clearly appears to have problems—needs to be grounded until the oxygen malfunction is resolved.) The elite pilots who fly these planes deserve prompt, complete independent oversight.
 
Pierre Sprey says:
 
Given that all previous stealth aircrafts—the F-117, the B-2 and the F-22—have each shown evidence that their stealth coatings can be extremely toxic to production workers, pilots, and/or maintainers, it would be unconscionable for the Congressional Armed Services Committees and the Department of Defense (DoD) Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E) to fail to demand an immediate, intensive toxicological monitoring of the F-35's stealth coatings.
 
Specifically, levels of all toxic components of the F-35's stealth materials that could be breathed by production workers, pilots and maintainers need to be meticulously, frequently, and accurately monitored on the production line, in the maintenance hangars, and in flight… Congress and the Director of OT&E should demand an unclassified report, within 4 months, of the quantitative results of this monitoring, together with an assessment of the potential long-term and short-term health effects on workers, pilots and maintainers by independent toxicologists from the Department of Health and Human Services, not from DoD.
 
There have been no public reports of it. Both the On-Board Oxygen Generating System and other suspects, like the stealth materials, have technical differences—they are not identical to what's in/on the F-22. It is something that should be closely monitored for the F-35. I doubt the Air Force or Lockheed will be forthcoming, and the pilots (test pilots both corporate and service) may also be less inclined to come forward than National Guard or active service pilots. It will be tough to get an independent view unless someone wakes up and demands a Government Accountability Office or Inspector General inquiry.

New China stealth fighter rival to US F-22 Raptor?

China may be building its own version of next-generation fighter planes, which are touted to have similar capabilities like US’ latest breed of super jet fighters, a new report has revealed.

The Pentagon’s 2012 annual report revealed that the January 2011 flight test of China’s next-generation fighter prototype, a J-20, highlights China’s ambition to produce a fighter aircraft that incorporates stealth attributes, advanced avionics, and super-cruise engines.

The report comes a month after a second prototype of the J-20 was reportedly spotted hovering around a Chinese airfield, more than a year and a half after China’s only other known prototype made its first public flight.

According to ABC News, the three attributes described by the Pentagon are among the advanced capabilities of a F-22 Raptor, the stealth fighter jet introduced by the US Air Force and manufactured by Lockheed Martin, which has been named as the most sophisticated fighter plane on the planet.

However, currently the entire fleet of F-22s, which cost the US government an estimated USD 79 billion, has been slammed with strict flight restrictions due to safety concerns for pilots.

Although reports suggest that China may not be possessing more than a couple J-20s, a US government report on Chinese weapons systems released last month claimed US intelligence as estimating that at least some J-20s could go combat operational as soon as 2018.

The F22, American stealth aircraft, is it a cursed instrument?

American pilots have claimed their refusal to fly aboard the stealth aircraft because of fears related to oxygen supply system. These devices have been detained last year to try to resolve the problem without success. They have since been allowed to fly again.

Built by Lockheed Martin, the F22 is one of the prides of the U.S. Air Force. In service since 2005, the stealth aircraft, scheduled to air combat (unlike the famous but unwieldy bomber Northrop B-2 Spirit) was controlled to 187 copies. But he also had its share of setbacks and accidents. Three of these aircraft crashed during test flights and training. The F22 was also locked down last year after a series of incidents involving drivers who had lost consciousness or who have had vertigo in flight. An investigation did not reveal a flaw in aircraft design. The planes were allowed to fly again in September 2011, but engineers are still trying to solve what appears to be a problem in the system of oxygen supply on board.

And this unresolved problem concerns the drivers. To the point that two of them, reveals a report by CBS, refused to take command of the unit.

"I'm not comfortable flying on F22"

In the show 60 minutes, that CBS should broadcast Sunday, pilots Jeremy Gordon and Josh Wilson declare particular they stopped flying F22 from January in referring to these security problems due to the supply system oxygen. Excerpts from the show that have already been made public show including this exchange: asked about the safety of the aircraft, Jeremy Gordon expressed his doubts. "I am not comfortable answering this question," he said. "I'm not comfortable flying on F22 when I speak."

This new episode has just feed the controversy surrounding this aircraft considered too expensive by some experts and U.S. lawmakers. The Air Force declined to comment on these excerpts, but a spokesman said that security was a top priority. "Even if the F22 program has faced challenges, the Air Force remains fully committed to not only cope but also to be devoted, unique, safety," said Lt. Col. John Dorrian .

Chinese j-20 black eagle US F-22 Sukhoi T-50 Stealth Fighters

Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor