damn - down 1 bird

[AquaPython]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090325/...e_us/f22_crash

[the chi]

For heavens sake people, if you post a link, post the darn STORY. Its not that hard. Not aimed at you AP, at EVERYONE who constantly posts links. Please ya'll, this is only common courtesy!

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – One of the Air Force's top-of-the-line F-22 fighter jets crashed Wednesday in the high desert of Southern California. There was no immediate word on whether the pilot ejected.

The F-22 Raptor crashed 35 miles northeast of Edwards Air Force Base, Pentagon spokesman Gary Strassburg said. He had no information about the area where the jet crashed.

Rescue crews were en route and the status of the pilot was unknown, said Air Force Maj. David Small at the Pentagon.

Small said the jet, assigned to the 411th Flight Test Squadron of Edwards' 412th Test Wing, was on a test mission but he did not know its nature. The crash occurred at midmorning.

Call to the base public affairs phone numbers were answered by recording machines.

The radar-evading F-22s each cost $140 million and are designed for air dominance. The warplanes can carry air-to-air missiles but are capable of ground attack as well.

The $65 billion F-22 program is embattled, with some opponents contending that a different warplane under development, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, is more versatile and less costly at $80 million per plane.

F-22s were grounded for two weeks after one crashed at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada in December 2004. They were cleared again to fly after a review, and an Air Force statement at the time said officials were "highly confident in the design, testing and development" of the aircraft. The pilot in that crash successfully ejected.

The U.S. is committed to 183 F-22s, down from the original plan laid out in the 1980s to build 750.

Its prime contractor, Lockheed Martin Corp., says there are 95,000 jobs at 1,000 companies connected to the F-22.

A spokesman for Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin referred all calls about the crash to the Air Force.

Lockheed is trying to convince the Pentagon to buy as many as 20 more F-22s. The military is expected to signal its intentions when the 2010 Defense Department budget is released next month.

The F-22 is able to fly at supersonic speeds without using afterburners. That allows it to reach and stay in a battlespace faster and longer without being easily detected.

The fighter, powered by two Pratt & Whitney engines, is 62 feet long, has a wingspan of 44 1/2 feet and is flown by a single pilot.

[Homeslice]

Originally Posted by The Chi

For heavens sake people, if you post a link, post the darn STORY. Its not that hard. Not aimed at you AP, at EVERYONE who constantly posts links. Please ya'll, this is only common courtesy!

[smileyman]

Air Force jet crashes in CaliforniaStory Highlights
F-22A fighter jet crashed 35 miles northeast of Edwards AFB around 10:30 a.m.

The one-seater was on a test mission when it crashed; status of pilot unknown

At $150 million apiece, the F-22A is the most expensive Air Force fighter

Next Article in U.S. »



From Mike Mount
CNN Pentagon Producer

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- An Air Force F-22A fighter jet crashed Wednesday near Edwards Air Force Base in California, Air Force officials said.


An F-22A fighter jet similar to this one crashed Wednesday during a test mission in California.

The single-seater crashed about 10:30 a.m. for unknown reasons, the officials said.

The status of the pilot was unknown.

At $150 million apiece, the F-22A is the most expensive Air Force fighter.

The fighter was on a test mission when it crashed about 35 miles northeast of Edwards AFB, where it was stationed, the Air Force said in a news release.

In 2004, an F-22 Raptor crashed on a training mission in the Nevada desert. The pilot ejected and was not hurt, though the jet was destroyed.

The plane was designed in the 1980s to provide a stealthy method to enter Soviet air space and strike Soviet bombers if the USSR attempted a nuclear strike.

Once the Cold War ended, the Air Force found a new mission for the F-22 as a long-range fighter with a sophisticated stealth design and state-of-the-art equipment that no other plane could rival.

However, the rising cost of the plane and numerous design and software problems threatened the program, which was almost killed by Congress.

In the end, the aircraft survived, and most of the problems were fixed, except for the price tag, which forced the Air Force to buy fewer aircraft.


Yeah man, like this!!! I didn't even break a sweat!

[derf]

In other news, the Air force is now enacting it's new you break it you buy it policy

[HurricaneHeather]

So as of yet we don't know if the pilot got out okay?