superstar rst-assignment pilots; the top
graduates from pilot training like ‘Single’
who are assigned the Raptor, but they come
here to tread water as they wait for their
B-Course slot down at Tyndall. Plus I have
former F-15, F-16 and F-22 pilots, both ANG
and Air Force Reserves, plus pilots who
are on the sta here at ACC [Air Combat
Command] headquarters.’
For pilots like ‘Single’, this is a golden
opportunity to initially learn how to be an
aggressor with plenty of ying to be had,but also to develop an early relationship
with the Raptor, as ‘Stab’ explains. ‘Our
rst-assignment pilots like ‘Single’ attend the
weapons and tactics talks, and on a typical
day she not only leads T-38s and ‘Red Air’
Raptors, but also reaches out to the ‘Blue
Air’ team to make plans and achieve their
aims. She builds in intelligence brie ngs,
weapons, SAMs and really orchestrates
the ght. After the ght we pre-mass as a
T-38 team, then we mass with the ‘Red Air’
Raptors, then we go into the full IndividualAbove left to right:
Maintainers have
done sterling
work to make
the Raptor
easier to service.
Panels are
now optimised
for access but
maintaining the
stealthy coating
still represents a
major challenge.
Eye-watering
post-stall
manoeuvering
makes the Raptor
a formidable
beast in the close
g h t.
Left: A Langley
F-22 leads the
‘Atlantic Trident’
participants.
The ‘Ironmen’
provided ‘Red
Air’ during the
exercise.Combat Aircrew Display System [ICADS]
debrief. All of this means that these young
pilots show up for the B-Course as a far
superior round and they are as prepared as
possible to step into the Raptor.’
Capt ‘Single’ explains further. ‘There are
eight new pilots here fresh out of training
and this is our rst assignment, here for two
years as ‘Red Air’, while being fully read into
Raptor capabilities — we can literally study
their tactics. The rst year it’s all about the
‘Red Air’, then as we move into our second
year we are allowed to go into the simulator
and start our F-22 spin up.’
The 71st provides support to both
Raptor squadrons at Langley. ‘When both
squadrons are in town, we generally provide
four T-38s for each, and they add between
two and four ‘Red Air’ Raptors to go up
against the four Blue Force Raptors.’
The little Talon is of course easy meat for
the brutal Raptor. But as ‘Single’ explains: ‘For
us, a lot of it is about strength in numbers;
they kill us, we die and regenerate and be
alive again’. Short endurance limits the T-38s
out over the vast Atlantic Military Operating
Area (MOA), but they o er the Raptors 20
to 30 minutes of high-end training. ‘They
will have certain DLOs [Desired Learning(^58) RAPTOR
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