Strictly operated in a clean configuration for low observability and range performance, F-35 should be able to stalk mobile missile launchers better than F-22 as currently kitted out That's just one case in favor of F-35.

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The F-22 can carry the 1,000-pound class JDAM weapon. For the F-22, the JDAM tail guidance kit fits on the Mk. 83 1,000-pound-class conventional bomb. Weight of the Mk. 83 bomb and tail guidance kit is approximately 1,015 pounds The combination of the stealthy F-22 and the precision capability of the GBU-32 allows the F-22 pilot to drop the weapon from altitudes of approximately 40,000 feet to a range of approximately 15 miles.

The GBU-32 is only carried in the F-22's main weapons bay. A typical combat load consists of two GBU-32. One GBU-32 is carried inboard in each side of the main weapons bay. When loaded with GBU-32, there is still sufficient room in the F-22's main weapons bay to carry two AIM-120C air-to-air missiles (one in each side of the bay, in addition to the two AIM-9 Sidewinders in the side weapons bays), which means that even on a mission to attack ground targets, the F-22 retains significant air-to-air combat capability.

Each 1,000-pound-class GBU-32 will be loaded from the opposite side of the F-22 (the JDAM in the left side of the weapons bay is loaded from the right and visa versa), in order to clear the open main weapons bay doors. The current MJ-1 load vehicle (called a jammer) is used to load the GBU-32 into the F-22. The GBU-32 is carried on the Air Force's standard BRU-46/A bomb rack (which is built by EDO). The weapon is carried on the inboard side of the bay with an adjacent AIM-120C missile staggered on the outboard side. This is so tail fins on the bomb and the missile's wings do not interfere with each other when the weapons are either released or launched.

The GBU-32 gets target information from the aircraft prior to release via a Miltary Standard (Mil Std) 1760 data bus. JDAM can be dropped by an aircraft from up to 15 miles from the target. In addition to its own inertial guidance system, the weapon receives in-flight position updates from the 24-satellite GPS satellite constellation which help guide the bomb to the target. The GPS constellation provides 24-hour navigation information to military and civilian users. The GBU-32's autonomous operation allows the carrying aircraft to release the weapon and leave the area, thus avoiding an enemy's integrated air defense (surface-to-air missiles, antiaircraft artillery ("triple A"), and radars) system, but still delivering the weapon to the target.

GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bomb

The F-22A has the capability to carry a variety of conventional and Long Range Stand-Off Weapons (LRSOW) for air-to-ground ordnance delivery. When performing air-to-ground missions, the F-22A can internally carry two Global Positioning System-aided 250-pound GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bomb in place of two AIM-120s and two AIM-9 missiles. The Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) (Guided Bomb Unit [GBU]-39/B) is designed to provide the F-22A with multiple targeting capabilities. Langley munitions crews loaded the new GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb onto an operational F-22A Raptor 15 July 2006. The fit test, conducted by members of the 27th Aircraft Maintenance Unit and observed by experts from Lockheed, Boeing, Edwards AFB, Calif., and Eglin AFB, Fla., was the first time the new weapon had been loaded into a combat-ready Raptor.

Weighing in at 250 pounds and a diameter of only six inches, the advantage of the GBU-39 is the amount that can be loaded into an F-22. It increases the target capabilities of the F-22 by 400 percent. Instead of two JDAMs, it will carry eight SDBs internally.

The Air Combat Command commander declared initial operational capability for the Guided Bomb Unit-39/B Small Diameter Bomb 02 October 2006 and the weapon made its combat debut just three days later. Boeing, the GBU-39B manufacturer, describes the bomb as "the next generation of low-cost and low-collateral damage precision s