PICTURES: New fighter aircraft emerges in China

Images of a new fighter aircraft resembling the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter have appeared on Chinese defence sites.

The images were reportedly taken at the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation airfield and appeared over the weekend of 15-16 September 2012.

A possible designation for the aircraft is J-21. Chinese defence sites, however, variously give the designation as the J-21, J-31 or F-60. In the absence of an official announcement, it is difficult ascertain the new aircraft's official designation.

As with the F-22 and F-35, the J-21 features canted twin tails, a key design feature of low observable aircraft. A single grainy head-on shot shows widely-spaced intakes, similar in appearance to the F-35.

One clear difference from the F-35 is the presence of two engines. Chinese observers speculate that these are Klimov RD-93s, the powerplant used in the Chengdu/Pakistan Aeronautical Complex JF-17 fighter.

 The aircraft also lacks the thrust-vectoring nozzles found on the F-22. No accommodation appears to exist for short take off vertical landing (STOVL) capability.

Based on the J-21's relative size compared with a truck parked nearby in one of the pictures, the aircraft is considerably smaller than the Chengdu J-20, photos of which emerged in similar fashion in late 2010.

There are two other key differences. The J-20 has large canards, which experts have said are not in keeping with a low observable radar cross section. Instead of canards, the J-21 has a tail plane similar to that of the F-22 and F-35.

Another difference is the presence of a twin nose wheel. Twin nose wheels are common on fighters that operate from aircraft carriers, such as the Dassault Rafale, Sukhoi Su-33 and Lockheed Martin F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet. Nonetheless, twin nose wheels are also found on Chinese types such as the Chengdu J-10, which has no apparent carrier role.

While China has no operational aircraft carriers, it has been conducting sea trials with the Varyag, a former Soviet flat-top.

Based on early images, the J-21 would appear to be a more nimble aircraft than the J-20, suggesting it is optimised for the air superiority mission. Some experts have suggested that the large J-20 is not intended as a fighter, but as a long-range attack aircraft.

The emergence of the pictures coincides with protests in Chinese cities over a territorial dispute with Japan over a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea. US defence secretary Leon Panetta will also visit China this week. The first flight of the J-20 took place on 11 January 2011, during a visit to China by Panetta's predecessor, Robert Gates.

Pentagon taking renewed flak over F-22's oxygen issues

The U.S. military's most advanced fighter aircraft, the stealth F-22 Raptor, is causing more headaches at the Pentagon.

According to numerous sources, two members of Congress are now calling for answers about the so-far unproductive investigation of reported breathing system malfunctions aboard the most expensive jet fighter ever built.

According to the Air Force, each F-22 fighter costs the government $142 million. The U.S. Government Accountability Office estimates that including costs for research and development and upgrades, the jets cost taxpayers $412 million each.

The mysterious problems affecting the jets, constructed by Lockheed Martin, have resulted in at least 24 reports of incidents involving hypoxia, or oxygen deprivation, reportedly including seven serious crashes and at least one pilot fatality.

The November 2010 crash of an F-22 Raptor claimed the life of U.S. Air Force Capt. Jeff Haney, who crashed near Healy, Alaska.  Haney was based at Alaska's Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson near Anchorage. The Air Force crash investigation blamed Haney for the mishap, despite acknowledging a life-support system failure that deprived him of oxygen prior to his loss of control.

The entire fleet of Raptors has been grounded twice. In September 2011, the most recent grounding was lifted without the oxygen problem being resolved. In May, a small group of pilots declared they would refuse to fly the jets until the problem was identified and corrected.

Since the planes returned to service last September, there have been at least 11 reports of hypoxia among F-22 pilots, most recently one in Virginia and another in Hawaii on Friday.

Continuing reports that the most advanced jet in US military history is still harming its pilots have prompted two members of Congress to get vocal about the situation.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, and Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Illinois, say that reported oxygen-shortage incidents may be more numerous than the Pentagon has reported. They've asked to see records of tests of breathing system components. They have given Pentagon officials 30 days to respond.

F-22's oxygen-deprivation problem worse than previously reported

Two members of Congress said Thursday that new information provided by the Air Force shows that an oxygen-deficit problem on F-22 fighter jets is worse than previously disclosed.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., said the Air Force reported about 26 incidents of apparent oxygen deprivation per 100,000 flight hours through May 31. That's a rate at least 10 times higher than that involving any other Air Force aircraft, they said.

Warner and Kinzinger said that as recently as this week, the Air Force maintained that the rate of F-22 oxygen-related problems was "relatively low."

"I don't want to say they're hiding anything, and I don't believe there's a cover-up or anything like that," Kinzinger, a former Air Force pilot, said in a teleconference with journalists. But he said he would like to see the Air Force "just be very open with the American people" about the seriousness of the problem and plans for fixing it.

An Air Force spokesman did not immediately respond to a voice message seeking comment.

The Air Force grounded its F-22s for about four months last year because of the oxygen-deficit problem.

In May, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta ordered new flight restrictions on the F-22 and directed the Air Force to enlist the help of Navy and NASA experts to determine why some pilots continue to experience dizziness and other symptoms while flying.

Warner and Kinzinger said the new information came from the Air Force in response to questions they submitted last month after a CBS 60 Minutes report featured two F-22 pilots from the Virginia Air National Guard who said that they and other pilots had experienced oxygen deprivation, disorientation and other problems during some flights.

The lawmakers said they are concerned that disciplinary measures are still pending against one of the pilots for going public.

"They should not be penalized for expressing those kinds of concerns," Kinzinger said. He said 10 others have since come forward to talk about the hypoxialike symptoms they experienced aboard the F-22.

Warner and Kinzinger also said that in response to one of their questions, the Air Force said an early 2011 survey found that a majority of F-22 pilots did not feel confident with the aircraft's oxygen system.

The Air Force ordered installation of new charcoal filters before returning the F-22 to full operations in September 2011, but that seemed to make matters worse -- an outcome verified in testing by the Boeing Co., which recommended discontinuing their use. The Air Force complied.

Now, attention is directed to an upper pressure vest -- part of the survival gear worn by F-22 pilots. Navy tests have shown a high failure rate for the vests, Warner said. But he said it's too early to pin the blame entirely on that equipment.

Kinzinger and Warner said they will continue pressing the Air Force to correct the problem.

The lawmakers stopped short of saying the F-22 fleet should be temporarily grounded again and praised Panetta for last month's directive, which said F-22 flights must remain "within proximity of potential landing locations" so pilots can land quickly if they experience an oxygen-deficit problem.

The F-22 was manufactured by Lockheed Martin, with the midfuselage built in Fort Worth. Production of all F-22 aircraft has been completed.

F-22 Pilots Told to Stop Wearing Pressure Vest Routinely

The U.S. Air Force has instructed pilots of the F-22 Raptor to stop wearing a pressure vest during routine flights as the service continues to investigate oxygen- deprivation incidents on the Lockheed Martin Corp. fighter jet.

"Recent testing has identified some vulnerability and reliability issues in the upper pressure garment worn by F-22 pilots," Lieutenant Colonel Edward Sholtis, a spokesman for the Air Combat Command, said today in an e-mailed statement. He said the Air Force is working to correct the problem.

The Air Force has been trying to figure out why F-22 pilots have suffered from hypoxia-like symptoms that include dizziness and disorientation. There have been 11 unexplained incidents related to a lack of oxygen since the plane resumed flying last year after a four-month halt for safety concerns.

"The upper pressure garment is not 'the' cause of physiological incidents, and we still have other variables to work through before we can determine what the major factors are and how they interact to produce the number of unexplained incidents we've seen," Sholtis said.

The Air Force has been studying whether pilots are getting enough oxygen and whether the air they breathe may be contaminated.

The pressure vest is the upper portion of the "G suit" worn by pilots to withstand high levels of acceleration, or "G" forces.

'Tight-Fitting Garment'

Brigadier General Daniel Wyman, the Air Combat Command's surgeon general, said in an June 11 interview that investigators are examining all "life-support garments" used by F-22 pilots.

While Wyman gave no hint of a flaw in the pressure vest, he said investigators found "the life-support equipment was not appropriately fitted" for pilots "and actually may have restricted their ability to breathe."

"It was like a tight-fitting garment that would not fully allow you to expand your chest," he said. "We've gone back out to the field, insuring that everyone was wearing their equipment appropriately."

Sholtis said the Air Force is looking at the flight suits worn by F-22 pilots in combination with the pressure vests.

Layering Equipment

"Testing has determined that the upper pressure garment increases the difficulty of pilot breathing under certain circumstances," Sholtis said. "We're also looking at the layering of other aircrew flight equipment as contributing to that difficulty."

The Air Force isn't ready to label the vest as a cause of the hypoxia symptoms because officials are still gathering data, according to a government official briefed on the latest information.

The service is looking in particular at the flight suits, worn in combination with the pressure vests, by F-22 pilots at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska and at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is being handled in private.

The official said investigators suspect the combinations may be restricting a pilot's ability to expand his chest and take a full breath.

The Alaska-based pilots wear an arctic survival suit intended to protect them after an ejection over cold terrain. Those based in Virginia wear anti-exposure suits as protection after an ejection over cold water. While similar to a wet suit, it doesn't fit as tightly.

The pressure vest serves as protection against both G forces and a rapid decompression at high altitude.

Combat Edge anti-g ensemble might be causing Raptor’s oxygen woes

The Combat Edge upper pressure-garment worn by US Air Force pilots flying the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor might be the cause of the fifth-generation fighter's oxygen maladies, sources say.

While pilots need counter-pressure from the vest-like pressure garment to exhale at low cabin pressures found in the Raptor's cockpit, the Combat Edge and associated breathing systems might be providing too much pressure especially under g-loading.

"It just seems a little weird to breathe of off this thing," one source says. "Because you can't expand your lungs as easily because you have something restricting you."

The extra load imposed on the pilots by the added pressure under g-forces could be causing them to "over-breathe the system".

A compounding factor may be a condition known as acceleration atelectasis. The condition causes the pilot's lungs to have trouble bringing oxygen to the blood system because pure oxygen--93% oxygen in the Raptor's case-- and high gravity loads set up the pilots for a condition where the air sacs in the lungs suffer partial collapse.

The result of acceleration atelectasis is the so called "Raptor cough"-where F-22 pilots have a pronounced cough as the pilot's body attempts to re-inflate the sacs under normal atmospheric pressure on the ground.

Earlier tests would not have caught the problem because the breather device used to test the Combat Edge system does not compensate for pilot's lungs being unable to expand as readily. The breather device always draws the same volume of air.

A lack of ability to test for restricted expansion kept the condition from being seen as a problem. The restricted breathing could lead to hyperventilation symptoms or even bigger issues if the pilot is suffering from acceleration atelectasis.

However, the source says, the pressure-garment problem has been a known concern since at least 2000 when a similar garment provided by Boeing was being flown. But at that time, the USAF did not believe that the extra pressure was a serious concern. Now however, the USAF is starting to believe that the Combat Edge is behind the Raptor's woes. But while current USAF research is pointing to the Combat Edge as the primary culprit behind the F-22's maladies, the source says that it is probably only part of the problem.

Unlike U-2 pilots, who fly only after a several-day rest period after each flight, F-22 pilots will sometimes fly more than once a day. This means that the pilots are flying before they fully recover from the effects of acceleration atelectasis. Thus when they are g-loading in flight, they are further exposed to the pressure from the Combat Edge and their breathing device. The exposure to maximum oxygen while already suffering from acceleration atelectasis means even less oxygen saturation for the pilot. The sum total can result in the "hypoxia-like" physiological symptoms that have been vexing F-22 pilots for the past year.

"It was an annoyance issue, but an annoyance issue after you were on the ground," the source says. "But there is no exposure limit on these guys and early on a double turn was a rarity."

Ironically, some of the safety measures that the USAF added after the service lifted the grounding such as flying with a negative-pressure carbon-filter--which is having oxygen pushed through it under pressure-- and with the oxygen system set on maximum at all times probably exacerbated the problem, the source says.

One possible solution might be the new pressure-garment designed for the Lockheed Martin F-35, which could potentially solve the some of the pressure issues. But F-22 crews may need to take a 24h break between flights, the source says. That would cause a sortie generation problem, however.

Officially, the USAF maintains that it has yet to find the root cause of the oxygen-system problem. "Our risk mitigation and data collection are evolving based on our experience and [Secretary of Defense] guidance. Analysis of the data is getting us closer to identifying a root cause or causes, although we don't have preliminary results or a projected completion date to share at this time," the USAF says.

Meanwhile, pilots flying the F-22 have not suffered any new unexplained hypoxia-like physiological incidents in nearly three months, the service says.

"We haven't had an unexplained physiological incident since 8 March," the USAF says.

Lockheed wins $19 million order for F-22 backup oxygen

The U.S. Air Force on Tuesday awarded Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) a contract to retrofit 40 F-22 fighter aircraft with an automatic backup oxygen supply after some pilots experienced oxygen deprivation when flying the supersonic plane.

The contract is worth $19 million, runs through April 2013, and includes retrofitting 10 spare aircraft. Currently oxygen supply requires manual activation by the F-22 Raptor pilot.

The Pentagon last month announced new safety precautions for its F-22 fighter jets, after a five-month grounding last year, but said it did not rule out grounding the aircraft again.

Concern over the jet's safety flared last month after CBS's "60 Minutes" news program reported that two pilots said they had stopped flying the fighter due to safety concerns.

The Senate Armed Services Committee said it hoped the Air Force would be able to resolve the issue and that it would continue to exercise "close oversight" in the meantime.

In a report accompanying its fiscal 2013 defense spending bill, the committee said the Navy reported 64 incidents and two deaths due to similar problems with F/A-18 fighter planes built by Boeing Co (BA.N) from 2002 to 2009, but ultimately resolved the problem.

The Air Force has documented 11 incidents of hypoxia-like symptoms in 10,000 F-22 flights, or about 0.1 percent, since the plans resumed flying in late 2011.

The Senate committee report directed the secretary of the Air Force to explain, no later than 90 days after enactment of the bill, how the service had implemented or would implement recommendations made by its scientific advisory board.

It also said it would view "as unacceptable any act of retaliation against any F-22A Raptor pilot who raises concerns about the safety of this aircraft or declines to fly it on that basis."

Last month, Lieutenant General Janet Wolfenbarger told a Senate Armed Services subcommittee that the Air Force viewed the two pilots who spoke to CBS as whistleblowers entitled to protection from retaliation.

Does F-35 Have Same Oxygen Problems As F-22? More Oversight Needed, Say Experts

Given the recent allegations by F-22 Raptor pilots that the aircraft has potentially deadly oxygen-system problems, it’s not surprising that questions are also being raised about the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter—which has strikingly similar design elements. Lockheed Martin, which makes both aircrafts, has recently said that “the F-35 and F-22 have common aircraft oxygen system suppliers, but the systems are very different.”

But a ‘concerned’ POGO commenter asked us if there’s any chance the F-35 could have the same oxygen problems, anyways. Not content to simply parrot Lockheed’s answer, we decided to pose the question to two defense experts: Winslow Wheeler, the director of POGO's Straus Military Reform Project and Pierre Sprey, who co-designed the F-16 and A-10 jets.

You can read their full responses below, but the short answer is, there is still a lot more monitoring that needs to be done on the F-35 before Lockheed or the Air Force can conclusively say that the aircraft is safe (not to mention, the F-22—which very clearly appears to have problems—needs to be grounded until the oxygen malfunction is resolved.) The elite pilots who fly these planes deserve prompt, complete independent oversight.

Pierre Sprey says:

Given that all previous stealth aircrafts—the F-117, the B-2 and the F-22—have each shown evidence that their stealth coatings can be extremely toxic to production workers, pilots, and/or maintainers, it would be unconscionable for the Congressional Armed Services Committees and the Department of Defense (DoD) Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E) to fail to demand an immediate, intensive toxicological monitoring of the F-35's stealth coatings.

Specifically, levels of all toxic components of the F-35's stealth materials that could be breathed by production workers, pilots and maintainers need to be meticulously, frequently, and accurately monitored on the production line, in the maintenance hangars, and in flight… Congress and the Director of OT&E should demand an unclassified report, within 4 months, of the quantitative results of this monitoring, together with an assessment of the potential long-term and short-term health effects on workers, pilots and maintainers by independent toxicologists from the Department of Health and Human Services, not from DoD.

There have been no public reports of it. Both the On-Board Oxygen Generating System and other suspects, like the stealth materials, have technical differences—they are not identical to what's in/on the F-22. It is something that should be closely monitored for the F-35. I doubt the Air Force or Lockheed will be forthcoming, and the pilots (test pilots both corporate and service) may also be less inclined to come forward than National Guard or active service pilots. It will be tough to get an independent view unless someone wakes up and demands a Government Accountability Office or Inspector General inquiry.