DCS World F-22 Raptor Air Dominance Experience Ultimate Power Adventure
The DCS World F-22 Raptor mod by Grinnelli Design gives you the keys to the Lamborghini of jet fighters if you’re ready. The F-22 is hottest most powerful air dominance fighter likely in the history of aviation today. DCS gives you an opportunity to experience this for yourself. This incredibly powerful aircraft delivers supreme performance combined with super manoeuvrability as well as stealth.
Pilots that have flown the DCS World F-22 Raptor say it’s so easy fighting old aircraft. They say it’s like clubbing baby seals because it’s so easy to sneak up undetected on enemy aircraft and even ground systems. The current generation of aircraft being known as 4th or 4.5th generation fighters simply cannot see the F-22 Raptor therefore cannot attack it. It is able to fly around undetected by most surveillance assets.
F-22 Raptor – A New Dimension.
The DDCS World F-22 Raptor is a single seat air dominance stealth fighter. It is designed and built by Lockheed Martin with Boeing involved in manufacturing of the aircraft. The F-22 Raptor went into service in 2005 and has led the world in jet fighter technology since. Loaded with the newest technology and unrivalled performance, nothing can currently compete with it. The Russian SU-50 PAKFA is regarded as a similar level aircraft in stealth along with the Chinese J-20. To date the SU-50 has not been produced in any numbers to be an effective combat aircraft. The Chinese J-20 on the other hand is well into production and offers something of a contemporary adversary although it’s hard to know how good the J-20 really is. The Raptor has only 185 examples filling squadrons in the USAF but has been out in active duty and currently deployed in the Syrian and European theatres of operations.
Performance.
The Raptor owes its supreme performance to its twin thrust vectoring Turbofan, Pratt & Whitney F119 engines. The F-119 engine delivers 35000Lb thrust each giving this fighter its incredible performance. This powerful engine gives the DCS World F-22 Raptor a super cruise capability which is the ability to fly supersonic at military power without the use of the fuel hungry afterburners. This is an impressive feature allowing the Raptor to get to places fast without expending huge amounts of fuel with the afterburner.
DESIGN
The DCS World F-22 Raptor weighs in at 43000Lb empty with a usual combat load at around 64000Lbs. The max gross weight of 83500 Lbs. makes it truly incredible. In combat configuration the Raptor has approximately a thrust to weight of 1.25 giving it better than parity. The Raptor employs a clipped delta wing design. His encompasses leading edge slats and trailing wing flaps, ailerons and full moving elevons plus twin rudders as well as 2-dimensional thrust vectoring from the twin engines.
The aircraft utilizes a relaxed stability system to enable maximum performance when pitching and rolling as well as the thrust vectoring abilities of the engines previously stated. Relaxed stability has been used since the F-16 Viper to increase the manoeuvrability of all modern fighters and makes previously impossible performance available.
The flight control computers must be operating for the aircraft to be controlled by the pilot. The flight controls are constantly monitoring airspeed, angle of attack, yaw as well as the pilots control inputs. To keep the aircraft flying and responding to the pilots demands. The system constantly adjusts the surfaces to maintain control and the extreme manoeuvring ability of the aircraft.
The Raptor has incredible agility coming from its 70000lb combined thrust. It’s extreme angle of attack (AOA) capability with up to 60 degrees of nose up AOA available makes deadly. This is incredible allows the Raptor to perform the amazing aerial feats it does at airshows and in combat. These include the Cobra and the J turn allowing it to point its nose effortlessly in BFM dogfighting.
The aircraft uses a combination of flaperon and inward turning rudders to achieve an air brake. This saves weight of adding more surfaces and actuators plus the wiring. Quite an ingenious use of existing controls
The F-22 Raptor is the first aircraft to use super cruise which is the ability to fly supersonic without use of afterburners. The F-22 can cruise at Mach 1.8 in super cruise and over Mach 2 in afterburner.
Avionics.
Avionics in modern fighters is what makes them so amazing and so capable. Although much of the avionics is secret with the F-22 we know the basics which is still incredibly interesting on a technology standpoint. I suspect there are some very interesting avionics hidden within providing an unfair advantage over the possible enemies. These will only become known once the Raptor is replaced by the next generation of fighters.
The heart of all modern fighters and especially a stealth combat aircraft is its radar system. The Raptors systems have evolved with the latest update. It now has a radar system that is so versatile it can change frequency 1000 times a second. It is reported to see from 125 to possibly 150 miles away. The sensor fusion technology allows it to act as an AWACS being it sees everything on the ground and in the air.
Sensor fusion allows it to pass targets both air and ground to friendly aircraft via data link taking command of the air. All aircraft in the vicinity as well as commanders can see what the Raptor sees on their data link systems. Now giving them a very accurate view of the combat space in real time.
Sensor Fusion
Sensor fusion gives the pilot unrivalled situational awareness being able to see everything on the battlefield. It enables the enemy aircraft to enemy ground threats all in one display. This was the first aircraft to use such technology. Previous generations of aircraft could see only ever air to air or air to ground targets at one time. They could never at the same time. This data is now displayed on multi function displays as well as helmet mounted displays. No matter where the pilot looks, he knows instantly where the threats are. This technology has become a game changer in the military environment.
Best Turning Radius.
The F-22 Raptor with its groundbreaking airframe design and amazing thrust performance should make it an amazing turning fighter. The real numbers are classified for sure! Numbers up to 28 deg/sec sustained turn rate and over 30 degrees instantaneous turn rate are spoken about. Next time you see one doing a max sustained rate turn time it and you will know.
In one video I timed a min radius turn at 9G reportedly at 20 seconds. If you divide 20 into 360 you get 18 Deg per second. The Viper is about this as well. It’s still very very good but not close to 28 deg.
Raptor Sting – Weapons
The Raptors weapons load has no doubt grown with it now being used to strike high value targets like the S-300 & S-400 Missile system’s other aircraft just cannot approach. It is reported the F-22 has a choice of AIM-9 including the X model as well as the AMRAM plus a range of guided weapons like the JDAM internally. The internal weapons options have certainly grown over time to make the aircraft quite the option for well defended targets along with the F-35 Lightening II. Once the threat has diminished and stealth isn’t as important external wing pylons can be carried with a wider ran of external weapons and tanks.
DCS -F-22 Raptor
So your keen to try out the Raptor for yourself. DCS World can offer you the closest experience with VR flight in the amazing F-22 created by Grinnelli Design. This model is the best of a number of F-22 Mods. The external model is of very high quality bordering on payware. The cockpit is a remodelling of the original FC3 F-15 the mod is based around. There are limitations to these mods such as the thrust vectoring engines. Although animated I do not think this has any effect on the flying qualities in the air.
The latest clickable cockpit mod which makes FC-3 (Flaming Cliffs 3) aircraft much better allowing the buttons to be clicked on where preciously this was not possible can help with the immersion. Switch and button animation only occurs if it was previously animated.
Download the F-22 Raptor by Grinnelli Design Here! Download, extract and copy the mod into either DCS World or Open Beta and its reported to work fine. You do as far as I know also need the Flaming Cliffs 3 Pack which is pretty inexpensive if you dont have it. If you like trying mods then its worth having as many mods are based from aircraft in the FC3 Pack.
Install the file into your C:\\Users\saved games\ DCS (OpenBeta) Mods\ Aircraft folder . Start up DCS and it will be available at the bottom with all your other aircraft. If you dont have an Aircraft or Mods folder make one.
So, if you’re looking to experience a modern stealth fighter Granelli Designs have done an amazing job with the F-22 for DCS World. I highly recommend this one to go have some fun in single player and online with friends on a private server. Generally mods are not allowed on most online multiplayer servers.
AUTHOR.
Brendon McAliece is a military veteran with over two decades of military jet fighter experience in both the RAAF and contracting in Saudi Arabia. He is a multi-lingual expat living in Thailand and also holds a sport pilot certificate giving him some hands-on flying experience.
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