| Tango01 | 21 Dec 2015 10:24 p.m. PST |
"Lockheed Martin F-22s have dropped 446 weapons during 50 strike missions against Islamic State targets in Iraq, Syria, Air Combat Command says in statement. Plane flown over half of all escort missions in 16-month campaign, ACC says
Majority of F-22 strikes against buildings, oil infrastructure, Air Force says…"
See here
link Amicalement
Armand |
| Mako11 | 21 Dec 2015 10:39 p.m. PST |
Brilliant use of our only, top of the line, "air-superiority" fighter, which costs an exorbitant amount of dollars, and has limited airframe hours. Man, those USAF generals in the Pentagon need another bonus/raise, for such a wise use of such few F-22s. Personally, I'd prefer them to try Assad's tactics and roll a bunch of barrel bombs out of the back of C-130s, to save the F-22s for when we really need them. |
| Jcfrog | 22 Dec 2015 3:14 a.m. PST |
Yes what yet another waste. What it does any plane from 30 years ago with slight modifications could do against these targets. |
| Patrick R | 22 Dec 2015 6:32 a.m. PST |
How else are they gonna prove once and for all that ANYTHING that flies is better than the A10 in the ground attack role ? |
| tberry7403 | 22 Dec 2015 7:54 a.m. PST |
Consider it a limited "Live Fire" test. No dogfighting and little chance of effective AA fire, but, at least they are getting long term testing of its systems in a "real world" environment. |
| Only Warlock | 22 Dec 2015 9:43 a.m. PST |
Probably as a "show" for the Russians, who are dominating the airspace |
| Tango01 | 22 Dec 2015 10:31 a.m. PST |
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| Lion in the Stars | 22 Dec 2015 8:12 p.m. PST |
"F22 has flown almost 300 sorties against Islamic State" and has yet to drop a bomb or fire a missile. [/sarcasm] |
 Condotta  | 23 Dec 2015 8:50 p.m. PST |
The F-22s are replaced/rotated regularly, so air and ground crews are getting some vital experience. If the idea is to impress, why not just go to it with B-52s? In fact, each time an attack is waged on the West, why not flatten a major group of ISIS or other terrorists groups? It would make the lone wolves and radicalized fanatics aware that their actions hurt their own sides in an extraordinarily damaging way. |
| Echoco | 24 Dec 2015 2:57 a.m. PST |
I think this is giving the Russian a good look and data on how effective US stealth really is.
It's an example of international cooperation helping the Russian roll out a new SAM update that can target stealth aircraft. |
| Lion in the Stars | 24 Dec 2015 12:33 p.m. PST |
@Echoco: I suspect that the F22s are flying with radar return increasing systems turned on. |
| Echoco | 24 Dec 2015 6:42 p.m. PST |
What I mean is if Syrian or Russian spot F-22 either visually or with radar enough times they'll figure out what the general effectiveness of F-22 stealth is.
Which aspect is weakest, what band, IR emission etc. |
is painting some ground targets as he needs them.
