Hey, Mav, did you get a polaroid?

[kham]

From the blog over at Dead Reckoning:

By David Cenciotti
Earlier this year, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little, said that an IRIAF (Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force) F-4 Phantom combat plane attempted to intercept a U.S. MQ-1 drone flying in international airspace off Iran.
As we reported back then, one of the two F-4 Phantom jets came to about 16 miles from the UAV but broke off pursuit after they were broadcast a warning message by two American planes escorting the Predator.
The episode happened in March 2013, few months after a two Sukhoi Su-25 attack planes operated by the Pasdaran (informal name of the IRGC – the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution) attempted to shoot down an American MQ-1 flying a routine surveillance flight in international airspace some 16 miles off Iran, the interception of the unmanned aircraft failed. After this attempted interception the Pentagon decided to escort the drones involved in ISR (intelligence surveillance reconnaissance) missions with fighter jets (either F-18 Hornets with the CVW 9 embarked on the USS John C. Stennis whose Carrier Strike Group is currently in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility or F-22 Raptors like those deployed to Al Dhafra in the UAE.
New details about the episode were recently disclosed by Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh who on Sept. 17 not only confirmed that the fighter jets providing HVAAE (High Value Air Asset Escort) were F-22 stealth fighters but also said that:
“He [the Raptor pilot] flew under their aircraft [the F-4s] to check out their weapons load without them knowing that he was there, and then pulled up on their left wing and then called them and said ‘you really ought to go home’”
Anyway the U.S. pilot achieved to scare the Iranian pilots off and save the drone. A happy ending worthy of an action movie.

Frankly, he should have blown the cocksuckers out of the sky; after all they were clueless, AND hey, its a dangerous business, bad shit happens all the time

[schlamm]

Dead men tell no tales.....that will put the fear of invisible airplanes suddenly becoming visible without warning into the little bastards which
no doubt was told far and wide

F-22LW.jpg

[PM2K]

That's one way to put the fear of God and the U S of A into them...

Reminds me of the practice of taking out an enemy combatant in a foxhole, and placing his ears in the pocket of his buddy next to him without waking him? Tends to makes the rest of his friends nervous for a while afterwards...

[nachtjaeger]

Maybe the next drone will be a retired F-16, with a couple of sparrows and sidewinders onboard besides the recon/targeting pod. And a hardcore gamer geek at the controls.

Dead men tell no tales.....that will put the fear of invisible airplanes suddenly becoming visible without warning into the little bastards which
no doubt was told far and wide

F-22LW.jpg

[kham]

Dead men tell no tales

Sure they do....
When every bird they launch never comes back

Sucks to be them, but thats life in the big city. Maybe they should play within their own borders and they wont be deaders.

[schlamm]

I do believe the back seater in this one could do the flying too, imagine the looks of OMG & WTF should the drone turn and attack

[Mynock]

And you thought the one's in Jurassic park were scary.
An F-22 pilot once referred to air to air combat (during a simulation) with F-15's, F-16's and even the F-18 as "like clubbing baby seals". Between the stealth capability and the next gen passive radar your target(s) never see you coming.

[kham]

yep

Think there's vid somewhere (I have it not sure if its on youtube) of a Red Flag debrief where they showing the number of hoops and rule-raping bullshit needed to make it "fair". I guess so the non-22 egos dont get crushed Reality aint near that sporting. Its a cloud of hair teeth and eyeballs, and not remotely judged by the east german judge

The thing that did stand out in the debrief was that the 22 is about 1 step down from an X-Wing, and as far as allies went, the usual suspects still as good. But the French not known for playing well ( run away before the merge; sad cliche but thats the breaks) The Indians were good but they had tendency to shoot everything - including friendlies and their own team The ROKs though were cold steel; they had just started flying brand-new F-15Ks and were VERY serious about learning their craft. Definitely guys you want on your side going to war

[schlamm]

IMG_0025.JPG

I'm fortunate enough to be in a place to see the Heritage foundation practice flights every year....budget bullshit like this year not withstanding, the F-22 is always the star of the show