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发帖数: 29846 | 1 In Syria, Pentagon's F-22 Fighter Plane Makes First Combat Appearance
Pilots Fly F-22 Over Syria to Bomb Militant Islamic State Group Targets
By Julian E. Barnes
Updated Sept. 23, 2014 3:10 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON—The Pentagon's most advanced fighter plane made its combat debut
in the U.S.-led strikes on Syria, serving a crucial purpose for a sensitive
mission that depended on stealth.
Pilots flying the F-22 Raptor flew bombing runs over Syria to target the
militant Islamic State group, U.S. officials said.
Officials didn't say what targets the F-22 struck, but said it was used
later in the series of strikes, which lasted several hours.
The plane is one of the country's most expensive—the F-22 program has cost
$67 billion and only 188 planes have been built—but U.S. policy makers have
been reluctant to use it in combat, in part because its high-end
capabilities weren't needed for militant threats that the U.S. has been
focused on for the past decade.
The first assessment of the U.S.-led airstrikes against militant groups in
Syria shows 22 militant sites were targeted and suffered significant damage.
WSJ's Julian Barnes reports. Photo: AP
"The ultimate decision being made—that we are to use this aircraft against
an adversary—is a unique and momentous decision for the United States Air
Force," said an Air Force official.
Military officials said the plane's ability to avoid detection by the
advanced Syrian air defense systems was one reason to use it. But its
ability to fly higher and faster than other fighters also allows it to drop
its 1,000-pound guided bomb from a much greater distance than older fighter
planes, Air Force officials said.
According to the F-22's unclassified specifications, it can drop a precision
bomb from at least 15 miles away from its target.
"It has a unique ability to approach adversaries in a way legacy aircraft
can't," said the Air Force official. "There are things the F-22 is uniquely
suited to address that the other fighters in our inventory can't."
The plane, built by Lockheed Martin Corp., also has advanced sensors that
allow it to have a detailed view of a battlefield and to coordinate the
attacks of other planes, although it wasn't clear if these capabilities were
used in the attacks Tuesday.
F-22s have been deployed to Asia, at a base in Japan, and to the Middle East
, at a base in the United Arab Emirates. But the U.S. has been reluctant to
use them in actual missions, in part because the U.S. military operations
have mostly targeted insurgent and terrorist groups, not states with
sophisticated air defenses.
Until now, the F-22 has been used mainly as a deterrent against Iran as well
as North Korea. In 2013, the U.S. made the planes part of a show of force
against North Korea, but only by putting them on display in Seoul.
Like many Air Force programs, the F-22 suffered from cost overruns and other
problems while in development and afterward. In 2011, the U.S. grounded the
F-22 for safety reasons, but later lifted the restriction. |
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