Posted on 04/21/2009 2:18:21 PM PDT by MyTwoCopperCoins
Stephen Trimble—master of all things flying—has found this video that apparently shows a T-38 training fighter shooting down the theoretically invincible F-22 Raptor in a combat training exercise—first kill documented on video ever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXmDj3mFrXQ&feature=player_embedded
It's not the first time it has happened, however: An EA-18G—a modified F/A-18 F Super Hornet Block II—"got lucky" and killed another F-22 with an AIM-120 AMRAAM in a simulated combat exercise over at Nellis AFB. This is something that Stephen confirmed himself.
However, this time instead of a high-tech EA-18G, the killer plane was this:
A humble T-38 training jet, piloted by a trainer on a combat training exercise over an unidentified air space. And it killed this:
An F-22 Raptor, the most advanced air fighter in the planet.
Stephen says that this doesn't mean much, except that—if it was really a T-38, the pilot was "either absurdly lucky or insanely skilled." Here's hoping all those Chinese and Russians flying next-generation fighters don't get either lucky or skilled anytime soon. [Flight Global]
Neil Armstrong once said (sorry, I don’t have the cite at hand) that of all the aircraft and spacecraft he flew (and he flew about everything) the T-38 was his favorite. Guess there was a good reason. :)
Let's change the game .... 100 miles apart at 600mph closing at 40,000 feet ... fight's on.
T-38 is TOAST.
F-22 in Video did not appear to aggressively be trying to evade the T-38.
Maybe two tight circle at not much altitude variation.
Also Video not a continual feed.
But a pacifist-sounding wimp can kill us all with lofty appeasement when he is given command.
Glad they cut that boondoggle.
They said that about the F4 phantom in the 60’s and it got a lousy kill ratio until they put a gun back on it.
Better spent on that, than given to ACORN and every other parasite supporting Obama.
Thank goodness for training exercises. Will the military still be able to afford them after 0’s cuts?
Regards,
TS
Its like having air combat training at RED FLAG or TOPGUN where Instructor Pilots could whip the crap out of their students but every now and then a student will get lucky and get a kill.
All the more reason to build more F-22’s,Not less.There need to be more than enough to be on hand for training,Day to Day operations and a replacement pool.Because due to Pilot error and Mechanical troubles some aircraft will be lost.
Of course the T-38 won. It was flown by one of the Thunderbirds.
Everyone knows the Thunderbirds (and the Blue Angels) rock!
Exactly.
or we could get 2 F-35 for the price of a raptor or even more in new production F-15s
God forbid that Congress actually spend something they are suppose to do... The F-22 is not a boondoggle..
It's been around for decades, and it's a nice looking aircraft. Some are in private hands.
That works for me, especially the proposed "stealth" F-15 upgrade I read about recently. But we need programs like the F-22 to keep our research going forward.
But did the F-22 shoot down the T-38 at beyond visual range.
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