Flying On-Board Mission During Air Force Wargame: Why is F-22 Stealth Effective?

Video Analysis: Pentagon Needs More Air and Missile Defense Weapons& Must Address New Threats

By Dave Majumdar – Warrior Maven Writer

I have been covering the Raptor and the F-35 since beginning of both programs. It is one thing to intellectually grasp the power of stealth, but seeing it in action makes one a believer—our flight had no idea, no warning from the AWACS or GCI that we were about to be hit until it was all over.

During an Air Force Wargame exercise, I had the opportunity to fly on a training sortie during the U.S. Air Force’s Atlantic Trident 17 exercise at Joint Base Langley Eustis in Virginia.

The war game brought together the three premier NATO air forces and the best operational fighters in the alliance’s arsenal including the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor—flown by hosts, the 1st Fighter Wing—the Lockheed Martin F-35A Joint Strike Fighter, the British Royal Air Force’s Eurofighter Typhoons and the French Armée de l’Air’s Dassault Rafales. U.S. Air Force Boeing F-15E Strike Eagles from the 391st Fighter Squadron and Northrop Grumman T-38 Talon jet trainers from the 1st Fighter Wing’s own 71st Fighter Training Squadron provided “Red Air” support playing the bad guys.

Having had a long association with the Raptor community, Col. Peter “Coach” Fesler, commander of the elite 1st Fighter Wing, wanted me to see first hand how the F-22, F-35, Typhoon and the Rafale operate together from the air. To that end, the Air Force arranged for me to fly onboard a 71st FTS Northrop T-38A on an operational training sortie during the third week of Atlantic Trident 17—when the exercise is at its peak intensity.

The first order of business was a stop at the Langley Air Force Base hospital to get my temporary 72-hour flight physical. The medical examination was very similar to a Navy Class I flight physical—which I have undergone several times—but without an audiogram or cardiogram. Indeed, the Air Force flight surgeon told me that the examination was indeed an abbreviated and modified version of the Class I flight physical that is required for the service’s pilots. After a very thorough examination, my flight surgeon gave her ascent and I was cleared to fly.