The U.S. Air Force says it will be sending 25 of its combat-coded F-22 Raptor stealth
fighters to Guam later this month as part of the Pacific Iron 2021 exercise.
While it may not look like a large number, viewers may note that currently out of a total
of 187 F 22s, only 125 are assigned to combat-coded units while others are allocated to various
training, test and evaluation duties.
The idea is to demonstrate the U.S Air Force' s "strategic flexibility" in deploying significant
numbers of combat aircraft to conduct operations from forward locations in the region.
U.S Air Force General Ken Wilsbach, head of Pacific Air Forces, told CNN, "We have never
had this many Raptors deployed together in the Pacific Air Forces area of operations"
In this video, Defense Updates analyses why the U.S Air Force sending 20% of its combat
coded F 22 Raptors to Guam is a message China can't ignore?
Let's get into the details.
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The timing of Pacific Iron 2021 is critical.
It comes around a month after the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has sent
28 military aircraft into the southwestern corner of Taiwan's Air Defense Identification
Zone, or ADIZ.
This was the largest number of Chinese sorties in that area since the PLAAF began sending
planes to intimidate Taiwan.
Also, during a speech to commemorate the Communist Party's 100-year anniversary, Chinese President
Xi Jinping had recently stated, "Resolving the Taiwan question and realizing
China's complete reunification is a historic mission and an unshakable commitment" of the
party.
Guam's location is strategic in nature and provides the U.S military a very important
foothold in the Indo Pacific and can be used to launch military interventions in the region.
A contingent of 25 F 22 deployed there can tilt an aerial skirmish to the American side
since F-22 has certain attributes that are unmatched by any other fighter and will enable
the U.S military to dominate the skies.
Let's check them one by one.
F 22 Raptor is the first operational aircraft to combine supercruise 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 that subsonic aircraft would lack the speed to
pursue and an afterburner-dependent aircraft would lack the fuel to catch.
F 22 has a speed of Mach 1.82 during super-cruise.
It also has thrust vectoring nozzles making it one of the most maneuverable fighters in
the world.
China's best bet against this is the Chengdu J-20.
At least 40 J-20s have been produced so far, but certainly no more than 60-70
But the aircraft has not reached ideal kinematic performance due to engine issues.
J 20 currently uses Russian Saturn AL-31F & Chinese derivative Shenyang WS-10 engines.
With these, the fighter can't supercruise.
A homegrown turbofan engine that could enable it with supercruise named WS-15 is currently
under development, but it will take more time to enter production.
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 or around 250 miles against a 1 m2 target.
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 has
a 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.
With AN/APG-77, F 22 Raptor can gather a lot of data and some experts have said that the
Raptor pilot has "God’s Eye View” of the battle-space.
China is still experimenting with different radars which include the KLJ-7 and more advanced
KLJ-7A's prototype but these are still no match for Raptor's radar.
F 22 Raptor is developed from grounds up to be stealthy.
F22 is the stealthiest fighter ever built & has a 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.
Even if some radars are able to detect it, they will find it very hard to track it and
have a radar lock.
Viewers may note that to target an aircraft, quality tracking is needed so that the missiles
can be guided towards it.
Hence, Raptor can strike without the enemy knowing it is there in the first place.
Stealth is still very difficult to achieve and China has a long way to go.
In May 2018, Indian Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa told a press conference that the radars
on India's Su-30MKI fighters were "good enough" and could detect a J-20 from "several kilometers
away" while answering a question on whether the J-20 posed a threat to India