"F-22 Was At A Disadvanatge When It Came Face-To-Face..." Topic

…. With Russia's Top Fighter Near Alaska This Week.

"US F-22 stealth fighter jets intercepted Russian Tu-95 nuclear-capable bombers and Su-35 fighters that approached Alaska on Tuesday, and it highlights a downside to the US's top fighter jets.

The F-22, with its incredible acrobatic abilities in the air and all-aspect stealth cloaking it from enemies at a distance, is the US's most lethal combat plane…."

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Amicalement
Armand

A one dimensional article that misses ways to keep the advantage that stealth provides. It goes something like "Hi I just popped up on your wingtip and your radar never saw me coming, want to try and guess where my wingman might be."

Crappy article. So the F-22 is worse, 'cause the weapons aren't on the wings--wow. And the F-35 is like a quarterback? ?

I do agree with one thing in the article--the F-15 should be used for the average intercept, but only because it is cheaper to operate and saves the wear-and-tear on the F-22's airframe.

Rob

Actually I thought the author was quite clear that in this situation that the F22 was at a disadvantage because it couldn't use its normal advantage. After all, they wanted to warn the Russians, not slaughter them.

The F15 would be a better air frame for this sort of work. Its big, powerful, fast, maneuverable, and very well armed. Plus, you could still have a flight of Raptors riding overwatch just in case Ivan gets a twitchy trigger finger.

Yes, we have too few F-22s to be burning hours on them in this type of stuff.

Also, those big, beautiful Sukhois are more maneuverable than the F-22.

Except that you need to keep the F22 pilots in practice. Simulator hours don't entirely count.

"…big, beautiful Sukhois?" I haven't heard that expression in a long time, Thresher01.

I had my suspicions but now it's been confirmed. Welcome back after your self-imposed hiatus, Mako11. Knew you'd rejoin us someday.

Hey, I happen to agree that the Sukhoi are quite pretty. And quite big.

Pretty sure I've even used the phrase "big beautiful Sukhoi" before.

But I doubt that the Su35 is more maneuverable *at combat speeds* than the F22.

The F 22 can carry two 2000 pound bombs internally. This allows a agile dog fighter to also be a stealth attack bomber. Not sure what this article is ment to imply.

So tthere is a F22 squadron based I Alaska. They do what they were designed to do intercept other aircraft. I am not sure of why you want to conserve a aircraft to a point that you don't use it.

Thanks, 28mm.

Seems like virtually any older, less capable, less expensive, less rare fighter could do the job.

I'm not saying don't use them completely, but we do need to conserve them a bit.

Not doing that, from the 1990s on, is what really got us in such a dire situation, with much/most of our warfighting equipment worn out, and too expensive to replace, on policing all over the globe.

I'm quite fond of the big beautifuls myself. Own a couple of the 1/72 diecast models of the Flanker-E released by HM last year.

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Relally nice!….

Amicalement
Armand