Posted on 01/23/2006 8:45:14 AM PST by MARKUSPRIME
01/23/2006 - LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va., (ACCNS) -- The 27th Fighter Squadron passed another milestone Jan. 22 after completing an Operation Noble Eagle mission in the F-22A.
The Jan. 21 and 22 mission over the U.S. marks the first operational mission in the new fighter aircraft since it was declared Initial Operational Capable in December.
Operation Noble Eagle provides air defense over the U.S. and Canada in order to prevent a future 9-11 type attack. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, North American Aerospace Defense Command fighters have responded to more than 2,000 air events within the United States and Canada, and have flown more than 40,000 sorties in support of Operation Noble Eagle.
This vital mission is the first to fall to the 27th FS since they converted to the F-22A.
(Excerpt) Read more at 2.acc.af.mil ...
How would you like to be a young USAF LT. assigned that aircraft?
Hopefully, we deploy a squadron to the med...for operational use against Iran.
> This vital mission ...
Umm, why do we want to waste a low-observable in a region
where that is irrelevant?
Or is this just sea trials?
"why do we want to waste a low-observable in a region
where that is irrelevant?"
Part of our Canada invasion plans, ya know.
In seriousness, I would assume they are still working out the kinks, "operational" or not.
Well its probably to give the pilots an actual mission while waiting for the proverbial sh*t to hit the fan somewhere overseas.
"Sea trails" more likely.
I'd assume this mission is for pilot familiarity with the aircraft, before being forward deployed.
My thought precisely. But, honesty, I think that a squadron of F-117s would do the trick just fine.
And, if not that, a group of B52s with MOABs, pin-point right onto the President's palace. BOOM! Buh-bye, Hitler.
F-22's can fly fighter escort for the Buffs and/or wild weasel missions to take out SAM sites.
It also might be a good tool to see if Chinese or Russian fighters are probing our air defenses. The Raptor could creep up on them easier than a regular fighter.
Part of our Canada invasion plans, ya know.
Ixnay, MWT!!! Didn't you get Rove's secret message on the Klan-fone?
Owl_Eagle
(If what I just wrote makes you sad or angry,
Real nice plane and it should be.. they have been working on this for decades. Back in the Big One,,the USA was able to put a fighter into combat in months, from drawings, to production, and on to war.
That's my understanding as well. God speed to the 27th and all members of our armed forces.
a production run of 5000 planes would reassure me. 125 of them and its really "So What?" in an extended war.
We can always make more, right?
Plus the F-22A is a force multiplier, meaning one plane is worth about 6 F-15s in the skies above a battlefield.
How many SU-27s or MiG-30's would it take to bring one down? (That's If they'd even get close enough to take a shot or had a pilot worth their salt.)
There's no "so what" about this plane.
"The Raptor could creep up on them easier than a regular fighter."
Yeah, but the way those things work, we generally don't REALLY want to sneak up on them.
Unlike China, we generally want them to see us and turn tail without real confrontation --- although a turn-about-fair play shoot down of a Chinese bogey over Alaskan territory would be nice.
Actually the production number is 183. Then they will see if congress will fund more.
F-22's along with F-15's,f-16's,f-18's, and the F-35's that will be coming out in a few years will definately be very formitable and a huge force multiplier.
The F-22A can dash at supersonic speeds for a lot longer than an F-15. The F-22 doesn't have to use afterburners to acheive supersonic speeds, providing for a quicker intercept.
Also, they probably want to iron out all the kinks here rather than deploy them to a place where everyone is an enemy (no friendly place to land).
we lost 8588 aircraft and choppers in Viet Nam. Russia is to introduce its 5th gen aircraft this year.
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