[Talisker]

Rafales aren’t the only one. An EA-6G managed the same feat, as have the Germans in their Tornadoes.

To be fair, they were all exercises at close range, whereas in actual combat the 22 is designed to stand off undetected and fire missiles.

[Spktyr]

That’s great, if they have AWACS support to localize the enemy. Both China and Russia now have (and offer on the world market) AWACS killer missiles that are fired beyond visual range. Once the AWACS is gone, the F-22 has to find its targets for itself and it’s just as vulnerable as any other flying emitter.

Expecting the F-22 to not have to mix it up in a dogfight at some point is as stupid as taking the gun off jet aircraft because “the missiles will do all the work.”