F-22 exchanging international relations with Iranians.

[jhmd2000]

It seems stealth, supercruise comes in handy after all. The gentlemen in Uncle Sam's latest invisible airplane were able to get the drop on a third generation Iranian fighter trying to diddle one of our drones, assess his weaponry and encourage the young man to depart before having to reduce him to his constituent parts and spread him as a fine mist of the clouds above his country.

http://theaviationist.com/2013/09/19/f-22-f-4-intercept/#.UjxolozD_IX

No definitive word on the bird, though.

 

[ImTheCaptain]

lolz F-4 Phantoms? Are they using catapults, too?

 

[Wakefan77]

Awesome story. Love that plane. That's a great site btw.

 

[jhmd2000]

Awesome story. Love that plane. That's a great site btw.

I really hope his buddies are all "Polaroid or didn't happen."

 

[DeacinBama]

I hope I missing something here, but if we have to escort the drones with manned aircraft, doesn't that defeat the purpose?

 

[jhmd2000]

I hope I missing something here, but if we have to escort the drones with manned aircraft, doesn't that defeat the purpose?

It seems to me that you can have a single fighter tandem running CAP on ten drones at once.

 

[DeacinBama]

It seems to me that you can have a single fighter tandem running CAP on ten drones at once.

Fair enough. Although I'm not sure I would characterize that as "escorting". You're an AF guy; is that how it's done?

 

[jhmd2000]

Fair enough. Although I'm not sure I would characterize that as "escorting". You're an AF guy; is that how it's done?

I am not a flyer, but I usually heard fighter combat missions as being either CAP (Combat Air Patrol) or CAS (Close Air Support). I think the main point of drones is constant watch, not necessarily stealth. It's why Af-Pak-Iraq is perfect for drone work: complete air dominance established by traditional air power clears the skies, and then a fog of Uncle Sam's seeing clouds swarms the area to establish information superiority. In that environment, it gets a lot harder to start building roadside bombs in the middle of the night when the hot spots are getting watched. Arming the drones just cuts out the middle man. You see three jihadis stuffing shells and wires into the carcass of some dead animal in a ditch, then before they get to set the cell phone trigger, they get some Hellfire to go with their damnation. Contrast that with a battlespace where the bad guys can actually do something about things over their heads, that's when they need manned wingmen.

Read this:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/04/us-syria-crisis-drones-idUSBRE98314C20130904

 

[DeaconSig]

That is so fucking badass. Nice link.

 

[bernbp5]

I hope I missing something here, but if we have to escort the drones with manned aircraft, doesn't that defeat the purpose?

Drones are really good at surveillance, but not as good at defense. Planes just up there to deter any country from attacking drones.

 

[DeacinBama]

Drones are really good at surveillance, but not as good at defense. Planes just up there to deter any country from attacking drones.

Yeah, so I know what drones do, and none of that is germane.

 

[ImTheCaptain]

I think he means self-defense.

But yes, it does seem odd to have escorts but I think it's more likely that A) there are air patrols in-air anyway because of the carrier taskforce and B) jmh's reason.

 

[ibleedgoldandblack]

Yeah, so I know what drones do, and none of that is germane.

 

[Wakefan77]

Not sure how many drones are being escorted nowadays but didn't some Iranian Su-25's try and shoot down and one of our drones not too long ago? This may be why we have fighters nearby on patrol especially being in international airspace.