on that rst night during the early hours of
September 23.
This was a signi cant announcement
as it marked the rst time that the USAF’s
super ghter had employed weapons in
combat action. As further details emerged
it became clear that a ight of Raptors
assigned to the 1st Fighter Wing at JB
Langley-Eustis, deployed to the Arabian
Gulf region, were used to strike an IS
command and control centre in Raqqah.
Joint Sta Director of Operations Army
Lt Gen William Mayville said that the F-22s
used GPS-guided munitions to target the
facility, which was located in northernSyria, about 75 miles from the Turkish
border. Pre- and post-strike imagery of the
target was also displayed, illustrating how
the Raptors had only targeted one end
of the building with extreme precision.
Interestingly, Lt Gen Mayville said that
US Central Command’s combined air and
space operations centre (CAOC) chose the
platforms used in the attack based on ‘what
was available in the region’.
Further details on the use of the
Raptors in Operation ‘Inherent Resolve’
has remained scarce. It is known that
the F-22s maintain a constant deployed
presence at Al Dhafra and that the aircrafthave remained active in the ongoing
air campaign, but there have been no
further speci c reports of them having
struck targets. However, the US Air
Force says that the F-22s are still ying
over Syria, that they are ying pre-
planned close air support (CAS) missions
and they have continued to employ
weapons. Indeed, it is understood that
some speci c high-value targets, in
certain regions of Syria, demand use of
the F-22s. In addition, part of their role
almost certainly relates to monitoring
the entire battlespace and helping to
ensure that any Syrian combat aircraft
are dealt with accordingly.
Former Raptor pilot Maj Gen Je rey
Harrigian, the deputy chief of sta for
operations, plans and requirements,
told reporters back in 2014: ‘Planners
are taking a look at the speci cs of
each mission and determining if they
need them [the Raptors] or not. So it
will depend on what the targets are,
where they are, and the environment
— whether it’s day, night, those kind of
things — to determine if it is necessary
to ow the F-22 into the package’. The
jet’s suite of advanced avionics certainly
appears to be lending a vital hand
in the intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance (ISR) operations that
are ongoing.Left: The pre-
and post-strike
imagery of the
Raptor’s target
from the rst
strikes in Syria on
September 23,- US DoD
Below: F-22s from
the 27th EFS
return from their
rst missions
into Syria in
September 2014.
USAF/TSgt Russ
Scalf
(^86) RAPTOR
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