Very nice pics, but the name you use is outdated  It's the F-22A now 

Every photo of the F22 I see looks fake.  I know they aren't fake, but the lack of rivets, clean fresh paint, etc just make it look fake.  I guess I'm used to seeing photos of older, dirtier aircraft.

I've seen F-22s from afar while in Florida on business.  The F-22 operates out of Tyndal AFB as a training squadron.  On a hazy day viewed from a distance it's hard to tell them apart from F-15s while they sit on the tarmac.

F/A-22 is the correct name, hence "Fighter/attack" interesting, I know Nellis AFB was presumable going to be the first home base.

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Mobius already responded correctly, however just to add...

The F/A designation came at a time when Congress was questioning continued funding of the program in the face of an oppinion that the Air Force didn't need a new air superiority fighter.  The F/A designation was used to show Congresmen the value the plane had as a multi-role.  THe airplane does have ground attack capability, however the Air Force didn't and doesn't have any intent to use it in that role.

Once the funding issues were sorted the airplane went back to being called the F-22.  When it entered service it gained the "A" variant designation.  F-22A is the current name.

There is talk about an F/B-22.  I don't know if that will come to be more than just idle chatter.  Some are of the oppinion that it's practically a done-deal (given the delay in F-35 production and the need to fill the gap with something).  A "B" designation implies a very capable platform indeed.

As others have said, it's now the F-22A.


Having personally witnessed it at Thunder Over the Boardwalk in late August this summer, it is a powerful aircraft. I watched the thing make a high-alpha pass along the beach with maybe 50 knots of forward speed, then drop the nose and rocket off into the distance. Definatly not something I would want to have to outmaneuver. Plus, it's tough to spot visually, especially against the sun, and unless it is using the afterburner, or you have line of sight to the engines, it is quiet... for a military aircraft anyway.