(Washington, D.C.) The U.S. Air Force is strengthening its “Rapid Raptor” program designed to fast-track four F-22s to war – anywhere in the world – within 24 hours, on a moments notice, should there be an immediate need for attacks in today’s pressured, fast-moving global threat environment.
The program, in existence for several years, prepares four F-22s with the requisite crew members, C-17 support, fuel, maintenance and weapons necessary to execute a fast-attack “first-strike” ability in remote or austere parts of the world, Air Force officials say.
Readiness for the F-22, senior Air Force officials explain, hinges upon a new software delivery strategy which sees incremental improvements less as “products” for pre-planned, spread apart adjustments — but rather a steady continuous “pipeline” of upgrades.
“When it comes to software, none of the old rules apply. It is a service and a pipeline today. We have to develop software differently. With the F-22, there has been a shift from a traditional acquisition program into a continuous stream of delivery,” William Roper, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, Acquisition, Technology & Logistics, told an audience recently at an Air Force Association Symposium.
As part of this “agile acquisition” program focused on software, the Air Force has validated two new weapons for the F-22. This F-22 progress is grounded upon the premise that hardware configurations, air frames, weapons’ racks and sensors – can all be changed with upgrades with software, .
The two new weapons are advanced variants of existing weapons – the AIM-9X air-to-air missile and the AIM 120-D.
This faster-paced software-driven strategy is intended to reinforce programs like the “Rapid Raptor” program to ensure that deployed F-22s operate at an optimal level of lethality.
