Unlike the F-15 Eagle, the F-22 hasn’t
been in an air-to-air shooting war. Some
would argue that this is testament to its
prowess; that others have chosen to remain
on the ground, rather than risk tangling
with a Raptor.
Irrespective of the combat spurs, F-
squadrons are at the leading edge of Air
Combat Command operations. At least one
Raptor unit is always deployed on operations.
This capability comes at a price. Maintainers
have had a tough time keeping the low-
observable coatings in pristine condition.
The burden of maintaining the stealthy
characteristics of the F-22 changed the way
squadrons operated — but they’ve learned,
adapted and succeeded. F-22 squadrons have
also struggled to find sufficient aggressors to
give themselves a thorough workout.
Talk to any fighter pilot and you’ll soon
realise that nothing comes close to a Raptor.
Sure, within visual range they’ll lose a few
tussles, but killing silently from range —that’s what the Raptor is all about. F-22 pilots
have a reputation for slaying adversaries in
simulated scenarios
As Col Chris Niemi, 3rd Wing commander,
says: ‘When you look at the macro trend over
the past 40 years, the number of dogfights
involving post-merge manoeuvering has
greatly diminished. Even in the F-22, which is
a tremendous dogfighter, the great majority
of engagements in an LFE [large-force
exercise] like ‘Red Flag’ weren’t decided after
an F-22 turned for 720 degrees and finally
beat an inferior-turning airplane. They were
decided two miles from the merge where the
guy didn’t even know the F-22 was there and
he shot him in the lips!’An F-22 flies at
sunset. After
dark is when the
Raptor comes
into its own. Its
sensors make the
pilot a master
tactician — able
to strike swiftly
and silently from
the shadows.
Lockheed MartinJamie Hunter,
Author and EditorT
HE FIRST F-22A Raptor took
to the skies on September
7, 1997. Who would have
thought that in 2017, some
20 years on from the first
flight of ‘Raptor 01’, experts
would be calling for more F-22s to be
built. Politicians couldn’t cull Raptor
numbers fast enough 10 years ago
to make budgets work, yet today the
development money is spent, the Raptor
is up on a pedestal as the greatest
fighter ever built, but it’s all too late. The
production tooling is in storage and
the USAF is already looking at the sixth
generation of fighters.
The F-22 Raptor is a stealthy,
supercruising, sensor-fused master of
the skies. It’s able to dominate ‘Red Flag’
exercises, which are probably tougher
than most conflicts its pilots are likely to
experience, yet a Raptor has never shot
down another aircraft in actual combat.054-5 Intro C.indd 5 28/09/2017 11: