to get through the BFM phases,’ explains
Lt Col Huebinger. ‘We are ensuring that
we make the Weapons Officers in the
CAF the best in the world at visual
fighting. If they get into that close-in
fighting situation they must be confident
in their ability to win. At the end of the
day, if they’ve done all they can with the
available missiles and all they have left is
the gun, we have to ensure they can
confidently get the rest of the mission
completed.’ The Raptor’s formidable
manoeuvrability comes to the fore in the
close-in fight. ‘In the BFM phase we take
the jet to its absolute limits,’ says
Huebinger.
Elaborating further on the BFM phase,
Huebinger adds: ‘It’s also the most
efficient way for us to teach instructiontechniques. A BFM sortie only requires
two Raptors, we don’t need other
adversaries and we only require a small
piece of airspace. So even with that lower
support requirement we can still focus
on how an instructor instructs. That’s a
big reason why we fly so as many of
these 1-v-1 visual missions at the start of
the course — so we can really focus on
instructorship.’
With BFM complete the course moves
to air combat manoeuvres (ACM) with far
more complex scenarios, typically
involving two Raptors up against larger
enemy forces. It then moves into tactical
intercepts, again with a pair of F-22s up
against a larger Red Air force.
Lt Col Huebinger says: ‘For BFM, we
fight Raptor against Raptor, but when weAbove: An
impressive mixed
formation of
Weapons School
fighters. F-35As
of the 16th WPS
plus an F-15C and
two F-22As of the
433rd Weapons
Squadron. USAF/
SSgt Daryn
Murphy(^76) RAPTOR
72-81 Weapons School C.indd 76 28/09/2017 15:01