The question about the third World War: will Russia and China be able to win the battle over the F-22 Raptor?
As Russia and China adopt modern fighter jets and anti-aircraft missile systems, a small elite group of US Air Force pilots flying Lockheed Martin's F-22 Raptor aircraft increasingly have to think about how to perform combat missions and maintain air superiority in the face of increasing military risks.
Dave Majumdar
As Russia and China adopt modern fighter jets and anti-aircraft missile systems, a small elite group of US Air Force pilots flying Lockheed Martin's F-22 Raptor aircraft increasingly have to think about how to perform combat missions and maintain air superiority in the face of increasing military risks.
The Raptor concept was developed in the last years of the Cold War. This modern supersonic stealth aircraft was designed to destroy the most formidable weapons that the Soviet Union could use against the United States and NATO in the event of the outbreak of World War III in Europe. But when the Cold War ended, and the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the F-22 was left idle (at least, it seemed so at the time). I must say that the second Bush and Obama canceled the F-22 construction program in 2008, doing so at a time when only 195 aircraft were ordered (187 of them serial). The reason for this cancellation is simple: it seemed to them that interstate conflicts with the use of the most modern weapons had become the lot of history. However, today it is becoming increasingly obvious that they were wrong.
In 2017, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced that the rivalry of the great powers had resumed. "We will be ready to confront the modern enemy. We call it the full spectrum. With our budget, plans, military potential and actions, we must demonstrate to the likely enemy that if he starts a war, we will be able to defeat him. The side that is able to prevent a conflict should demonstrate that it is able to dominate such a conflict," Carter said, speaking at the Washington Economic Club. — In this regard, Russia and China are our strongest opponents. They have developed and continue to develop modern weapons systems, seeking to eliminate our advantages in some areas. Sometimes they create such weapons and such methods of warfare that allow them to achieve their goals very quickly, before we can strike back (at least, they hope so)."
I must say that even after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia retained the best enterprises of the military-industrial complex, despite the economic and social hardships of the nineties. Despite serious problems, Russia has managed to create and adopt such types of weapons and military equipment as the Su-35S aircraft, S-300V4 and S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems, as well as other systems. Meanwhile, a growing China has seriously taken up the modernization of its army, developing new fighters and new air defense systems, such as the J-16 and HQ-9. Thus, while Washington ignored its likely opponents, focusing on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Chinese and Russian leaders continued to modernize their armed forces in order to deter the Americans in the event of a conflict.
Why America needs the F-22 Raptor (and more than ever)
During the war in Syria, the Pentagon came to the conclusion that it would have to rely on its tiny fleet of 186 F-22 aircraft if there was a need to create no-fly zones or security zones in this war-torn country. The Raptor is the only combat aircraft capable of fighting modern air defense systems, such as the Pantsir—S1 S-300V4 and S-440, which have been deployed in Syria. Moreover, it is the only aircraft in the US Air Force that has significant advantages over the Russian Su-30SM and Su-35S fighters.
Preparation is important
Of course, it is very important to have the necessary means of warfare, but the human factor is even more important. Pilots and technicians need to be trained and prepared to overcome the most modern threats in combat conditions. I once visited the elite 1st Fighter Wing of the US Air Force. This is an advanced unit flying F-22 Raptor vehicles. It was during a combat readiness check exercise. Unlike large-scale exercises such as Red Flag or those conducted by the US Air Force Weapons School at the stage of training to perform a combat mission, when piloting skills are mainly practiced, combat readiness exercises are aimed at finding out how much a particular unit is ready to perform a combat mission. In fact, this is a dress rehearsal and a test of readiness for war.
"The Raptors' pilots are the most important component, but they are still part of the team. They won't be able to do anything if the technicians don't prepare the cars for departure. Technicians ensuring the aircraft's low visibility must prepare its surface. The guys who are engaged in armament, install bombs and missiles. The air traffic controller releases the car into flight. Scouts prepare pilots for the task. All this must be done comprehensively, because if there is any failure, the flight will not take place," Fesler told me, showing the parking area and aircraft maintenance. — At such exercises, we must get out of the static state, quickly mobilize, start the engines, and then immediately engage in battle. There is simply no other way to prepare."
As Fesler explained to me, the idea of the exercises is to take the six squadrons that make up the wing, as well as the personnel of the 192nd Fighter Wing of the National Guard, together with auxiliary units, and deploy all this in different parts of the airbase in conditions close to combat. As part of the exercises, the wing received an order to prepare for a combat mission in a specific theater of operations and to depart for it as soon as possible. Having received such an order, the personnel of the wing packs all the necessary auxiliary equipment, prepares their aircraft for action in the specified theater, and a few hours later flies to it. During my stay at the base, two F-22 squadrons were transferred to different parts of it and worked in the parking and maintenance area in tents. "It requires very careful organization," Fesler said.
Absolute insurance
In many ways, Raptor is a U.S. Air Force insurance policy. While the rest of the Air Force aircraft are preparing and fighting in low-intensity conflicts, the F-22 is focused almost exclusively on countering the most modern and high-tech threats. "We are constantly preparing for combat operations with the most high—class enemy," Fesler said. "A low—intensity conflict is not our main task."
From the very beginning, when operational tests of the F-22 began in 2002, it proved itself very well in a simulated combat situation, having won a disproportionately large number of victories in the air compared to other machines. Even when the Raptor operated against the most formidable enemy vehicles, such as the Su-35, as well as against the S-300V4 and S-400 air defense systems, it was extremely rarely "shot down". "Losses among F-22s are extremely rare, no matter what kind of machines he fought in a simulated combat situation," Fesler said.
Why is Raptor stronger than others
In fact, the main problem during the training of F-22 pilots is to create a sufficient number of targets to defeat and really serious threats, because otherwise there will be little benefit from such training. Another problem is that this aircraft has simply brilliant characteristics in terms of speed, acceleration, low visibility, detection devices and maneuverability, which compensates for tactical errors of the pilot.
"A pilot can make a lot of mistakes, show a lot of flaws, a very bad day may turn out, but the plane will still show itself from the best side," said one of the most experienced pilots of the F—22 with the call sign Crash. — The fact that you win a battle does not mean that you showed a good result. And if you lose, it doesn't mean that it was you who ruined everything. There are cases when our guys die during training flights, although they do everything right. And it also happens that some fool spoils everything right and left, but in the end he still succeeds. But it's much easier to survive in this plane."
To prepare pilots for the exercises, the 1st Fighter Wing uses a combination of training aircraft T-38 and F-22, playing the role of a conditional enemy. In these cases, they create threats at the level of the Su-35. And the on-board computers and data lines of the F-22 simulate the operation of enemy air defense systems, such as the S-300V4 and S-400. During one of the flights, the Raptor encountered several modern "dries" and a serious threat from the ground, a young F-22 weapons systems officer from the 1st Fighter Wing with the call sign Bullet told me. Bullet is a graduate of the elite US Air Force Weapons School, and he took an active part in the preparation of these exercises.
"We usually prepare to deal with the most serious and most modern threats, because we want to be ready for everything and maintain a high level," Bullet told me. — The thing is that when we act in the conditions of the worst scenarios, we use the maximum of our capabilities. And when the training is not at such a high level, it turns out that we are not fully prepared to perform combat missions."
Since the aircraft has excellent characteristics, and the pilots are the elite of the highest standard, the enemy can prevail over the Raptors only when it has a large numerical superiority. A pilot with the call sign Crash told me about one case when four F-22s were simultaneously engaged in combat with 10 fourth-generation enemy aircraft similar to the Su—35. "Well, they were even a little better than typical fourth-generation machines," Crash said. We usually do not perform training tasks against machines that have not yet been adopted. But we are trying to fight the most modern of the existing threats."
Usually the F-22 destroys the enemy from a long distance. As Fesler notes, if the Raptor failed to hit the enemy aircraft from afar, and it enters into a dogfight in conditions of visual contact, then something terrible has happened. Usually, a debriefing begins immediately in an attempt to understand what the error is. I must say that all the pilots with whom I talked with one voice told me that such an analysis is the most important part of a training flight. Nevertheless, F-22 pilots are very seriously preparing for aerial combat in visual contact conditions. "We usually go through the whole range of training from A to Z," Crash said. At the same time, we proceed from the fact that an F-22 pilot who has been trained in the West is the most serious threat we can face."
Large (and necessary) modernization
One of the latest improvements of the Raptors at Langley is the Block 3.2A/Update 5 software. And this aircraft has finally received the AIM-9X Sidewinder missile from Raytheon, which is capable of hitting targets with large side angles. F-22 pilots have long dreamed of such a rocket. This is a serious plus for the Raptor, which literally all the pilots of the 1st wing, with whom I talked, told me about. The new weapon significantly increases the already formidable combat capabilities of the F-22. And this is despite the fact that the Block 3.2A/Update 5 update is interim. The AIM-9X and AIM-120D AMRAAM missiles will be fully compatible with the Raptor.
What the F-22 still lacks is a helmet-mounted display. Such displays have long been used in most American and foreign fighters. Due to its absence, the Raptor is at a great disadvantage in close air combat if it is not able to fully demonstrate all its combat qualities.
The Air Force is going to include such helmets in the equipment of the F-22, but the pilots from the 1st fighter Wing say that it is not so necessary. "Raptor" usually has superiority in combat even without such a system. As Fesler noted, F-22 pilots, even without AIM-9X missiles and helmet-mounted displays, often fly up to the enemy at the sighting range of on-board weapons or ambush his planes within line of sight. "I can sneak up on the enemy," Fesler said. — I fly around him in an F-22, and he doesn't even see me. I get in his tail and say, "Why waste a rocket if there is a gun.""
Ultimately, since the F-22 is a fifth-generation fighter in the US Air Force to gain air superiority, and operates in an increasingly hostile world where threats are becoming more and more every day, the command of this type of armed forces should be interested in constantly increasing the combat capabilities of the Raptor.
Dave Majumdar is the editor of The National Interest, covering military issues.