The most powerful fighter jet in the world is now arriving in Poland.
The 5th generation fighter jets are part of the 90th Fighter Squadron, part of the U.S
Air Force's 3rd Wing at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska.
They will reach 32nd Tactical Air Base in Łask, Poland, via RAF Lakenheath in England
Once deployed, the unit will be referred to as the 90th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron
and will be supporting the NATO Air Shielding mission.
The NATO Air Shielding mission brings together allied air and surface-based air and missile
defense units under NATO’s command and control.
the U.S Air Force said in its release, that mission “will provide a near seamless shield
from the Baltic to Black Seas, ensuring NATO Allies are better able to safeguard and protect
Alliance territory, populations and forces from air and missile threat,”
In this video Defense Updates analyzes why F-22 Raptor in Poland is the worst nightmare
for Russia?
Let's get started.
Poland is strategically located, sharing long borders with Belarus and Ukraine
The country has become a staging ground for foreign arms and other military supplies heading
into Ukraine.
Poland itself had provided various weapons like tanks and howitzers.
The nation is also taking significant steps to bolster its own defenses that include acquiring
Abrams main battle tanks from the U.S as well as howitzers, and aircraft from South Korea.
Viewer may note that Russia has recently warned the West.
Konstantin Gavrilov, the head of Russia's delegation on arms control said in Vienna,
"Increasing supplies of Western weapons to Kyiv may force the Russian Federation to take
tougher actions,"
F -22 Raptor is an engineering masterpiece designed for "First Look, First Shot, First
Kill"
It 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 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 catch.
This is possible due to the very powerful dual Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 after-burning
turbofan engines.
F-22 has a speed of Mach 1.82 during super-cruise.
The AN/APG-77 radar equipping F-22 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 meaning enemy radar warning receivers are not able to detect
that a radar lock has been achieved against it
Raptor is also now equipped with Link 16 through which it can connect with military aircraft
as well as ships and ground forces exchange tactical pictures in near-real-time.
F-22 Raptor is developed from the 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).
Raptors 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.
Hence, Raptor can strike with its plethora of air to air and air to ground weapons without
the enemy knowing it is there in the first place.
Apart from Raptor, Poland’s airspace is now defended by Poland’s own F-16s and MiG-29s,
F-35As flying from Spangdahlem in Germany as well as U.S Marine F/A-18 Hornets from
the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW) are also present at Łask Air Base
It is clear that sending the F-22 Raptor is part of an increased effort by the U.S. and
its NATO partners to boost the aerial presence in the region as they face growing rhetoric
from Russia.
Russia has no operational 5th generation stealth jet with the serial production of Su-57 delayed
due to technical issues and may not commence before 2027.
Su-35 which is currently its most potent fighter has been shot down in Ukraine with not-so-sophisticated
systems and hasn't been able to carry out proper SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defense))
missions, clearly demonstrating it has many shortcomings.
In this situation, F-22s will provide a massive advantage to NATO in case Russia initiates
any hostile action against Poland.
In April when a discussion in relation to imposing of No Fly Zone was going on, US Air
Combat Analyst Connor Hall, suggested to theaviationgeekclub.com that “8-12 Raptors could sanitize the skies
over Ukraine within an hour.”
Overall it can be stated that the arrival of Raptor in Poland is very bad news for President
Putin.