The only fighter from the planet's aerial domain, the F-22 Raptor, it was built in only 186 specimens (the closure of the line is considered one of the biggest mistakes in Pentagon history), but only 123 are converted to combat. The rest of the fighters are classified as inventory machines, intended for testing or off-duty activities. The main problem is that the Air Force, considering the current threats and the contexts where the presence of a fifth generation platform is needed, would need 382 Raptor. The question is purely numerical: the first fighter in the world for which the term "aerial dominion" was coined, cannot be everywhere.
The data released by the Air Force are alarming: the United States has six F-22 operational squadrons, but these are undersized compared to the other combat units. The standard American squadron is based on 24 aircraft (F-16 or F15) PAA or Primary Authorized Aircraft and two in BAI O inventory Backup Aircraft Inventory. The five squadrons Raptor fighters have in line 21 plus two planes in BAI. The only Raptor squadron of the National Guard, based in Hickam, Hawaii, consists of eighteen F-22 and two in inventory.
The situation becomes even more dramatic considering that theAir Force Weapons School, in Nellis, has only thirteen Raptor for qualification. Due to the cut in funds, almost entirely for F-35, the Raptor will not receive full integration with AIM-9X Sidewinder and AIM-120D AMRAAM at least until the 2017.
Postponed to 2020 the integration with theHelmet Mounted Cueing System. Various information such as height, speed and equipment is projected onto the helmets of pilots and navigators. The helmet is connected to the aiming system and allows the pilot to frame and launch a missile at an enemy target using only the view. Also this capacity, conceived as standard equipment of the F-22 and which would allow to exploit the maximum the AIM-9X has failed.
Despite this, the Raptor it is confirmed as the best fighter in the world, even if in a large-scale comparison it would pay dearly for its small number. In short: there are more enemies than all the missiles i Raptor they could fly in one mission. Not to mention, finally, that some AIM-120 might not even hit the target in an era when active electronic warfare is making giant strides.
The concept is simple and is historically cyclical. F-22 Raptor and F-15C "Golden Eagles" could massacre hordes of J-10 with extreme ease, but in the end the United States will be destined to defeat because numerically inferior to the low-cost Chinese fighter and put into mass production.
In fact, they also emphasize from the The National Interest, the only real enemy of the Raptor is numeric. And even if all the missile waves were to hit the mark (we know that probably it will not be so), would be acceptable losses for the Chinese. THE Raptor, instead, they are and will remain 143: of these only 123 are converted to combat.
History teaches. Without considering, finally, that in a hypothetical confrontation, the Chinese could ally with the Russians.
(photo: Lockheed Martin)
