Aviation Specials — F-22 Raptor (2017)

‘Those missions are the closest we can

replicate to actually peer-level war,’ says

Huebinger. ‘On the adversary side, they

involve the full spectrum; air and ground,

land forces and all domains, space and

cyber, simultaneously. You can sit in

CAOC [Combined Air Operations Centre]

and see it all happening on the ground

and in the air.’

Heading into those fearsome scenarios

are the F-22 students, keen to ace the

final phase and receive their coveted

patch. Lt Col Huebinger says: ‘The

mission is usually eight Raptors. The

formations are usually half students, half

instructors, with the student as the

formation leader. That’s the level of

training we are after. The Weapons

School overall is about many missions

and types all working together. WSINT

has several lines of focus. There’s some

SEAD [suppression of enemy air

defences], some defensive counter air,

close air support, strategic attack. It’s not

just ‘Vipers’ doing classic SEAD, it’s about

integrating the capabilities of all the

platforms.’

Right top

to bottom:

Integrating the

fifth-generation

F-22 and F-35

is a big part of

the high-end

tactics of the

Weapons School.

USAF/SSgt Daryn

Murphy

A crew chief

pre-flight checks

an AIM-9M

extended out

from the F-22’s

side weapons

bay. Jamie Hunter

72-81 Weapons School C.indd 79 28/09/2017 17:08