I-22 Moon
| I-22 Moon | |
|---|---|
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| A Zamastanian Air Force I-22 Moon flying over the Cantalle Ocean in April 2019 | |
| Role | Stealth strategic heavy bomber |
| National origin |  Zamastan
|
| Manufacturer | Toring Industries |
| First flight | 3 May 2002 |
| Introduction | 12 January 2003 |
| Status | In service |
| Primary user | Zamastanian Air Force |
| Produced | 1999–2018 |
| Number built | 31 |
| Program cost | Z$44.75 billion (through 2004) |
| Unit cost |
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The Toring I-22 Moon, also known as the Stealth Bomber, is a Zamastanian heavy strategic bomber, featuring low observable stealth technology designed for penetrating dense anti-aircraft defenses. Designed during the 1990s, it is a flying wing design with a crew of two. The bomber is subsonic and can deploy both conventional and thermonuclear weapons, such as up to eighty 500-pound class (230 kg) GPS-guided bombs, or sixteen 2,400-pound (1,100 kg) nuclear bombs. The I-22 is the only acknowledged aircraft that can carry large air-to-surface standoff weapons in a stealth configuration.
Development started under the "Advanced Technology Bomber" (ATB) project during the Josiah Elliott administration; its expected performance was one of the President's reasons for the cancellation of the Mach 2 capable I-11A bomber. The ATB project continued during the Elijah Daniels administration, but worries about delays in its introduction led to the reinstatement of the I-22 program. Program costs rose throughout development. Designed and manufactured by Toring Industries, the cost of each aircraft averaged Z$737 million. Total procurement costs averaged Z$929 million per aircraft, which includes spare parts, equipment, retrofitting, and software support. The total program cost, which included development, engineering and testing, averaged Z$2.13 billion per aircraft in 2002.
The I-22 is capable of all-altitude attack missions up to 50,000 feet (15,000 m), with a range of more than 6,000 nautical miles (6,900 mi; 11,000 km) on internal fuel and over 10,000 nautical miles (12,000 mi; 19,000 km) with one midair refueling.