The United States Air Force has dispatched
F-22 Raptor to the Middle East as tensions
with Iran ceases to die down.
The F-22s have arrived at Al Udeid Air Base
in Qatar on Thursday
The is the first time F-22s will be in Qatar.
The U.S Air Force did not provide the total
number of F-22s deployed but release a picture
that seems to suggest that there at least
5 of them
The Air Force stated, "These aircraft are
deployed to Qatar for the first time in order
to defend American forces and interests in
the US Central Command area of responsibility,"
The move comes around a week after an Iranian
Khordad 3 surface-to-air missile shot down
American RQ 4 Global Hawk drone over the Strait
of Hormuz.
Iran stated the drone was in its airspace,
but the United States claims that it was over
international waters.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes the
deployment F 22 in Qatar to counter Iran.
Let’s get started.
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F 22 will be the tip of the spear.
It is most likely be used to destroy the Iranian
air defenses and take out is fighter jets.
This will clear the path for other American
aircraft.
So, basically, it will be tasked with achieving
air superiority over Iran.
Iran has several types of air defense systems
that include indigenous once as well as of
foreign origin.
It has recently showcased indigenously developed
Khordad 15 which is thought to be far more
advanced than the Khordad 3.
Apart from these, Iran also has Russian made
S-300 which is its most impressive air defense
system.
S 300 can be equipped with radars that are
claimed to have the capability to detect even
stealthy aircraft.
It is not known that those radars actually
work properly and if Russia has provided them
to Iran or not.
Iran is thought to possess 4 batteries each
of S 300 P and S 300 PMU2.
Importantly we have to keep in mind that Iran
doesn’t have S 400 which is an upgrade of
S 300 and a better counter for F 22.
It is obvious Iran will try to confront the
F 22s with its own fighter jets.
There are around 190 fighter aircraft such
as US-made Northrop F5s, F-4 Phantom II, Grumman
F-14 and Russian made Sukhoi Su-22, Sukhoi
Su-24, and MiG-29
The MiG-29 is the most modern fighter and
Iran operates approximately only 25 of these.
We will now look at 3 reasons why Iran won’t
be able to do much against the F 22 Raptor.
F 22 Raptor is the first operational aircraft
to combine super-cruise and super-maneuverability.
Supercruise is the ability to have sustained
supersonic flight without having to use the
highly inefficient afterburners.
With this F 22 can intercept targets which
subsonic aircraft would lack the speed to
pursue and an afterburner-dependent aircraft
would lack the fuel to reach.
This is possible due to very powerful dual
Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 after-burning
turbofan engines
F 22 has a speed of Mach 1.82 during super-cruise.
F 22 incorporates super-maneuverability which
makes it a capable dogfighter.
Its maneuverability is at the top of the stack
and is demonstrated by its ability to pull
off Pugachev’s Cobra maneuver.
Pugachev’s Cobra is a demanding maneuver
in which an airplane flying at a moderate
speed suddenly raises the nose to the vertical
position and slightly beyond like a cobra’s
hood, before dropping it back to normal flight.
This requires potent engine thrust to maintain
approximately constant altitude through the
entire move.
The performance aspect will ensure that F
22 will always be in an advantageous position
when faced by an Iranian fighter.
It is also to be noted that the agility will
also be used as a last ditch counter against
Surface to Air missiles, where it will initiate
high G maneuver to shrug them off if targeted.
Radar is like an eye for an aircraft.
There was no budget limitation when the AN/APG-77
radar was developed for F 22 Raptor.
No compromises were made and this keeps it
at the top even today.
The AN/APG-77 radar features a low-observable,
active-aperture, electronically scanned array
that can track multiple targets under any
weather conditions.
It has a range of around 400 km against 1
m2 target.
It will give a massive edge to pilots of F
22 and enable them to get the first shot against
Iranian fighter which is a vital aspect of
air combat.
It is to be taken into consideration that
Air to Air missile available to F 22s are
also much better than what Iran’s fighter
will be equipped with.
This will include AIM-9X and AIM 120-D missiles.
This radar can also be used for electronic-attack
by focussing its signals on the enemy to overload
their sensors.
The radar changes frequencies more than 1,000
times per second to resist jamming and have
Low Probability of Intercept.
Low Probability of Intercept means the enemy
radar warning receivers are not able to detect
that a radar lock has been achieved against
it and hence opponents have little warning
of an impending F 22 attack.
It will be important when confronted with
Iran’s cache of Air Defense systems.
For offense against Air Defense platforms,
F 22 will deploy the AGM-88 HARM.
The AGM-88 HARM (High-speed Anti-radiation
Missile) is a tactical, air-to-surface anti-radiation
missile designed to home in on electronic
transmissions coming from surface-to-air radar
systems.
It has a range of 150 km and 92 miles and
has a speed of over Mach 2.
The fire and forget capability of the missile
allows weapon engagement at stand-off ranges.
F 22 Raptor is developed from grounds up to
be stealthy.
F22 is the stealthiest fighter ever build
& has very low RCS (Radar Cross Section) of
only 0.0001 m2.
It achieves this due to its structural design
as well as the use of Radar Absorbing Materials
(RAM).
It can’t be detected by most radars.
So, it can strike without the enemy knowing
it is there in the first place.
Also, it must be noted that even if when some
new advanced radars are able to detect it,
its signature is so small that it very hard
to track and get a radar lock.
It is the most likely situation that Iran's
air defense will be faced when it tries to
target the F 22s.
The same thing is applicable to Iranian pilots
who will find it very difficult to detect
and target the F 22s.
Addition of F22 is the latest in high profile
deployment that includes USS Abraham Lincoln
aircraft carrier strike group, B-52 Stratofortress
& Patriot air defense batteries.
It is to be noted that even today F 22 can’t
be exported to any country as per Federal
Law.
Even Japan's request for F 22 which is a close
U.S ally was also rejected.
F 22’s deployment will act a deterrence
against any misadventure.
It is interesting to note that the U.S Air
Force has “Rapid Raptor” program
The program is designed to enable quick deployment
of F 22 Raptor.
It basically aims to have a small contingent
of 4 F 22s in always ready state so that they
can be pressed into service in case a sudden
need for mission arrises.
This strategy is intended to reinforce programs
the “Rapid Raptor”, by ensuring that the
deployed F-22s operate with full capability.
Rapid Raptor was developed by Air Force Pacific
Command but has now been expanded to a global
level by Air Combat Command.
So, technically going forward the U.S would
be able to bring to the table around 9 Raptors
at any moment against Iran.
This is a significant force and can inflict
massive damage to Iran’s Air Defense Systems
as well as its Air Force.
