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The F-22 can be seen on radar. The Brits seen it and our people see it at red flag. A US F-18 (defeated one in a dogfight,everything is always situational). The Russians will be at a great disadvantage against the F-22 because of low RCS and jamming but it can been seen. They also have IRST on the SU-30’s and the F-22 lets off heat just like any other jet. I love the F-22 and I have played many video (i assume you have as well as the idiotic gaming community thinks stuff like this is invulnerable)games with jets and read many defense forums etc.

The hubris of thinking the F-22 is invincible is to invite disaster. The Russians are not stupid people like the sand people we have fought for 15 years. They have had passive radar for years as well and they have excellent SAM systems. Yes its a great jet but it can be shot down, not to mention intel gathered off its profile while in combat. Which is why we should only use our ace’s when in a truely hot war not Syria.

First, the infamous F-18 HUD picture was the result of the F-18 being killed well before the merge and the jet continued to the merge to get a nice picture. It was not a F-22 ‘kill’ or gun shot as the F-18 was already dead and the F-22 rightfully ignored it and was shooting the second wave of the package.

Second, no, they can't see it. There are brief, very brief moments when the LO capability is compromised, but that brief moment is not enough to glean any info regarding alt, heading, airspeed, etc.

Third, IRST is a nice capability but that capability is significantly reduced when engaged against the F-22. The dispersed IR plume of the F-22 makes detection at range extremely problematic. . .and those Russian jets will die well before they can be a threat.

Fourth, there is no hubris in recognizing its inherent capability. It is something to leverage and train with. . .and we do. There are times when the 5th Gen capability is mitigated intentionally as this will allow training for both sides.

Fifth, no I have not played video games with this jet, or any other. I am a former fighter pilot and have actually flown alongside and against the F-22. So, rather than take some game designers guess as to the F-22’s capability (along with their knowledge-gap regarding its classified capabilities) as representative of the jets 5th (and emerging 6th) Gen capability, I go with real-world knowledge.

Lastly, defense forums and such, same as gamers but with a little more technical knowledge, have some credibility but they, too, operate with limited knowledge and posters/commentators are, like me, bound from posting true specifics. And we can't overlook disinformation campaigns on those forums, disinformation by the Russians, China, North Korea, even the French. These disinformation posters are trying to glean classified info, to provoke “discussion” in order to subtly trick posters/writers into revealing more than they should.

That's it for me. Have a great day.

“The F-22 can be seen on radar. The Brits seen it and our people see it at red flag.”

That’s probably because it has its radar reflector deployed and or blip enhance on its transponder turned on.

When you see a F-22 demo at an airshow, they may show some impressive moves but doesn’t come close to revealing the true capabilities of the jet so it doesn’t surprise me one bit that an F-18 “killed” one in a mock dogfight..... Same can be said of the mock dogfights between the F-22 and Indian Air Force Su-27/35/ect.

I agree with you on not using the F-22 in Syria.