Aviation Specials — F-22 Raptor (2017)

have included initial concerns over SAM

threats. But most importantly, it was about

time the Raptors started earning their

operational spurs.

FIRST MISSION

Lt Gen Mayville’s initial statement shed a

little light on the actual Raptor mission over

Syria. He said that the F-22s flew alongside

F-15Es, F-16s, F/A-18s, as well as B-1B

bombers. He also said that unidentified

‘drones’ and Tomahawk Land Attack

Missiles were used. The first wave of strikes

saw TLAMs used, which struck IS targets

in the vicinity of Aleppo, Syria. The second

wave included the F-22s, with the package

striking IS headquarters, training camps,

barracks, and combat vehicles. Mayville

declined to release the exact number of

F-22s involved in the strikes.

Central Command spokesman Lt

Col Edward Sholtis said that the three

waves of attacks saw US and coalition

forces attack 22 targets with roughly

200 munitions. Lt Col Sholtis declined to

comment on the actual weapon used

by the F-22s, however they are capable

of employing either the 1,000lb GBU-32

Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) or

the 250lb GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb

(SDB). Col Pete ‘Coach’ Fesler, commander

of the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley

AFB, subsequently confirmed to this

publication that F-22s employed SDB for

the first time on a later deployment.

Ironically, the Raptor, which was

developed for the most hotly contested

of theatres, appears to have likely cut

its combat teeth in the most benign

of environments. It wasn’t kicking

down the door in a night one LO (low

observable) offensive in a highly contested

environment, it wasn’t lethally engaging

‘Flankers’ silently — it was most likely

joining the ranks of the strike package

as an insurance policy against a possible

SAM threat or to be at the ready to whack

any marauding Syrian fighters. One thing

we have learned from reporting on types

such as the F-22 is that we can never fully

appreciate its full suite of capabilities —

because that’s classified. What we do know

is that this time it appears that neither

the SAMs nor the fighters came — so the

Raptor had to make do with its combat

debut being a pinpoint strike.

INTO EUROPE

The US Air Force deployed Raptors for the

type’s first flying training deployment (FTD)

to Europe in 2015, almost one year on from

Above: An F-22 on

patrol high above

Syria in June

2017. The Raptor
      lacks the ability
      to designate
      targets with a
      laser and relies
      on GPS-guided
      weapons. USAF/
      SSgt Michael
      Battles
      Left: The 27th EFS
      was manning the
      OIR detachment
      in mid-2017, as
      evidenced by
      this F-22 marked
      up for the 1st
      Operations
      Group. USAF/SSgt
      Trevor T. McBride

(^88) RAPTOR
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