Posted on 01/06/2020 8:50:17 PM PST by blueplum
Full Title: U.S. Air Force warns Iran with huge show of strength as 52 fully-armed F-35A Lightning II stealth fighters worth $4.2 BILLION take off in a single wave after 'elephant walk' along Utah base runway
The U.S. Air Force has performed a huge show of strength by launching more than 50 fully-armed Lightning II stealth fighters in a single wave following an elephant walk down the runway. The 52 F-35A aircrafts, which are worth a whopping $4.2 billion, took off in quick succession from the Hill Air Force Base in Utah on Monday. The exercise carried out by the active duty 388th and Reserve 419th Fighter Wings showed the Air Force's ability to deploy a large force of the F-35As. While the exercise has been planned for several months, the execution...
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Yup, that’s the current use case for them.
The answer is “yes” - because our B-52s do not have radar absorption/IR suppression/stealth upgrades. It’s about as hard to shoot down as an airliner.
That’s nice. But unless SEAD is successful, a BUFF in enemy airspace is *toast*. This is why we have the B-1 and B-2.
Once SEAD is successful, the B-52 can then truck in mass amounts of munitions - but it’s not going to be sent in first to lead the strike by anyone with two brain cells to rub together.
Today we launched about 50 F-35s in rapid succession. Part of a long-planned combat power exercise with @388fw, we pushed the boundaries and tested our Airmen’s ability to deploy @thef35 en masse. We’re ready to fly, fight, and win. @usairforce @USAFReserve @USAF_ACC pic.twitter.com/QskjR6lsch— 419th Fighter Wing (@419fw) January 6, 2020
Great vid, at link.
Read the article. :)
So what, do they have a red flag?
You said “ The B-52 wouldn’t be as much of a threat - these days it’s not a very good penetrator against modern air defenses. It can only be used if hostile air forces and much ground defense has been suppressed or destroyed.”
The B52 is a huge threat and can used well outside an Iranian defensive perimeter.
How does Iran defeat a B52 intending to launch a load of cruise missiles?
No Shi’ite.
That’ll turn their turbans....into diapers.
Pallets of pork grease would be better.
I did. It proposes the ‘52 use stand off weapons and that’s fine. However, as a straight up air defense penetrator without standoff munitions... no. The F-35 is much more of a threat in that role.
It’s getting a bit messy, for sure, with Turkey chomping to go into Libya, the rouge general in Libya growing stronger with more territory, giving the UN-backed govt a run for its money. Iran in Iraq and Syria and Yemen...most of Africa a lost cause, half of South America a lost cause..Europe’s being stabbed and raped to death....It’s good to be in America.
You may want to look into the current situation with our cruise missiles. We cancelled earlier stealth versions and we have only in the last few years started serious production of new, stealthier ones.
Cancelled ones:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-137_TSSAM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-129_ACM
New one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-158_JASSM
Only has a 1000lb warhead, and it’s configured as a penetrator, not a blast weapon.
Note that the Russians may have got their hands on some of the 158s - and they may have a way to track them with the S-300/S-400 systems now.
Also note that the six B-52s we are devoting to this can carry between 6-20 of these things - but each of those F-35s can hypothetically carry two, possibly four. That’s potentially more JASSMs on the F-35s than the six B-52s.
They look like the grasshoppers the prophet visioned.
...”and they had breastplates as breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings as the sound of chariots of horses running to war.” Rev 9:9
The B-52 wouldn’t be as much of a threat - these days it’s not a very good penetrator against modern air defenses. It can only be used if hostile air forces and much ground defense has been suppressed or destroyed.
Not anymore. Taking out those defenses from stand off range along with B2’s is one of their missions.
I would expect the JASSM to be carried by more survivable aircraft than the B-52 due to the limited range, even the ER variant. Likely the B-2 or F-35. Also, the JASSM carries a combination penetrator/blast fragmentation warhead. The fuse is programmable, and can detonate at or before impact, or act as a penetrator. Apparently, we have just retired the old AGM-86 ALCM’s, but I’m sure they would do a great job, fired in large numbers from max range, to defeat air defense systems. Why decommission or mothball them when you can launch them? They may not be stealthy, but with proper mission planning and numbers, they can challenge even the best air defense systems.
I don’t think Iran has much in the way of defensive weapons.
Aren’t F-35’s fighters? If so, why the big show of fighters, Iran has very few of them.
Reminds me of the saying the bomber airmen made in WW2, “the fighters make the headlines, but bombers win wars.”
The F-35 is multi-role. It’s designed to attack ground targets as well as being a fighter. The F-22 is more the true fighter.
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