Interview with F-22 chief test pilot

old (1998) but still worth a read.

http://www.ausairpower.net/API-Metz-Interview.html

excerpt:

Kopp:

There is some debate in the fighter community about the relevance of thrust-vectoring in this day and age of Helmet Mounted Displays and 4th Generation heaters. What advantages do you see in having thrust vectoring, and how does it influence both instantaneous and sustained turning performance in the F-22A?

Metz:

Thrust-vectoring is often thought of in terms of the classic ‘dogfight’ where one aircraft is trying to out-turn his opponent at ever decreasing airspeeds. Whether a pilot should ever engage in these slow speed fights is a matter that is hotly debated within the fighter pilot community. Certainly, there is general agreement that it is best to not get slow – ever. With the advent of the helmet mounted sight, 4th generation heat seeking, off-boresight missiles the slow dogfight becomes even more dangerous. ‘To slow or not to slow’ are questions of tactics and best left to the expert fighter pilots of the future.

The F-22’s thrust-vectoring can provide remarkable nose pointing agility should the fighter pilot choose to use it. What is not widely known is that thrust-vectoring plays a big role in high speed, supersonic maneuvering. All aircraft experience a loss of control effectiveness at supersonic speeds. To generate the same maneuver supersonically as subsonically, the controls must be deflected further. This, in turn, results in a big increase in supersonic trim drag and a subsequent loss in acceleration and turn performance. The F-22 offsets this trim drag, not with the horizontal tails, which is the classic approach, but with the thrust vectoring. With a negligible change in forward thrust, the F-22 continues to have relatively low drag at supersonic maneuvering speed.

But drag is only part of the advantage gained from thrust vectoring. By using the thrust vector for pitch control during maneuvers the horizontal tails are free to be used to roll the airplane during the slow speed fight. This significantly increases roll performance and, in turn, point-and-shoot capability. This is one of the areas that really jumps out to us when we fly with the F-16 and F-15. The turn capability of the F-22 at high altitudes and high speeds is markedly superior to these older generation aircraft. I would hate to face a Raptor in a dogfight under these conditions.

……

Kopp:

The new APG-77 active phased array air intercept radar embodies many of the technological ideas in fielded systems such as the Aegis radar. Can you comment on what the implications are, of having the equivalent of a miniaturised SPY-1 in the nose of a fighter aircraft?

Metz:

I am not familiar with the Aegis radar system so I cannot make a direct comparison. The main difference with this radar at the pilot’s station is that the pilot does not think in terms of his radar or his EW suite or any of his specific sensors. With a conventional fighter radar, the pilot must direct the radar beam to search in specific areas and he must command the radar to lock on to a detected target. In the F-22, the pilot does neither of these tasks. The radar is one contributor to a knowledge base of information about the air and ground space surrounding the Raptor. The radar is self-cueing and continuously searches all available space within its field of regard. It can also perform multiple tasks at one time such as searching and tracking multiple targets. The radar does this with no pilot interaction and inputs its findings to the core avionics which, in turn, sorts and sifts this information along with inputs from the other sensors to formulate a complete picture of enemy aircraft, friendly aircraft and ground threats in the vicinity of the Raptor
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so does it mean not just raptor but other tvc equipped birds can get benefits
mentioned above ? :diablo: