US Air Force conducted the first ever integrated operational flight training exercise between its fifth generation stealth fighter fle...
US Air Force conducted the first ever integrated operational flight training exercise between its fifth generation stealth fighter fleet. U.S. Air Force deployed four F-22 Raptors from Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, to Eglin Air Force Base, earlier this month for the unit's first operational integration training mission with the F-35A Lightning II assigned to the 33rd Fighter Wing here.
The training was aimed to improve integrated employment of fifth generation assets and tactics.The mission allowed both units to gain operational familiarization and capture lessons learned to improve future exercises.
The missions started with basic air-to-air and surface attacks. The F-35s and F-22s flew offensive counter air, defensive counter air and interdiction missions, maximizing effects by employing fifth-generation capabilities together.
The F-22 was built to be an air-to-air superiority fighter with unrivaled stealth capability and the F-35 was built to be a strike fighter. Complementing each other, the fighters flew from a design perspective into a tactical arena.
As the training progressed, the missions developed into more advanced escort and defensive counter air fifth-generation integration missions.
USAF recently employed the F-22 for the first time against the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant during the most recent joint coalition campaign in Iraq and Syria. The ground strike was the F-22 Raptor's combat debut, demonstrating the decisive impact fifth-generation capabilities bring to real-world scenarios.
During the strike mission against ISIL, the F-22's ability to provide heightened situational awareness to other aircraft through the platform's integrated avionics and fused sensors that makes all the aircraft in the strike package more lethal and survivable, maximizing the full capabilities of airpower, was demonstrated.
The F-35 has three main models: the F-35A conventional takeoff and landing(CTOL) variant for USAF, the F-35B short take-off and vertical-landing(STOVL) variant for US Marine Corps, and the F-35C carrier-based CATOBAR (CV) variant for US Navy. Currently low rate initial production is underway, with more the 150 F-35s produced which are used for training and development flights. F-35B is slated to enter service in December 2015, F-35A in December 2016 and F-35C in 2018.
The F-22 Raptor is the only fifth generation fighter operational in the world with unmatched capabilities. USAF operates 188 Raptors, whose no was capped due to the huge program cost of $67 billion.
