With the huge costs and time involved in developing modern combat aircraft, it means that there are fewer and fewer new planes entering the various services. The F-22 Raptor is a case in point. Its lengthy development culminated in two prototypes flying in late 1990 with a fly-off against the YF-23 taking place shortly there after. It is now 14 years later and the aircraft is just now entering squadron service, albeit in very small numbers.

During its initial development, a whole raft of different designs were tried, each one offering its particular attributes. What the Air Force wanted was a stealthy aircraft that was able to carry all its ordnance inside the airframe and yet be supersonic and able to perform both air and ground attack missions with equal aplomb. Two aircraft were chosen, one from Northrop and the other from Lockheed. During a rather well done and brief flyoff, the YF-22 was chosen. Oddly enough, in all categories other than dogfighting, the Northrop YF-23 held an edge, yet the Lockheed aircraft was chosen. To many, this seems much like politics over performance.

Despite winning the competition, the YF-22 was not the final design. This had to be massaged to provide higher speeds, greater stealthiness and to bring the aircraft to combat readiness. The final look of the plane is very much like the prototypes, but putting the two together shows how different they really are.

Jay Miller's book covers the full history of the F-22 up until this time. Not unexpectedly, the majority of the book covers the initial design, the fly-off and the development of the F-22. It is basically provided in snippets, with a myriad of milestones making up most of the historical section. There is a goodly amount of information provided on the engine and other systems so that modelers and those really interested in the technical aspects will be able to get what they seek. It is then capped with a goodly section of full color photographs of the aircraft in various stages of its development.

Over the years, we've been treated to books on new aircraft; I have volumes on the F-14, F-15, and F-16 that were written just as the type was entering service. This is by far the best of the batch and for those who have to have information the latest and greatest, then this is a book that simply must be on your shelves.

June 2005

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