Impressive photo shows F-22 stealth jet dogfighting against F-15 at close range

Aerial combat between U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors and F-15 Eagles, seen from the inside.

The image in this post was taken from a U.S. Air Force F-15 Eagle from the 131st Fighter Squadron, 104th Fighter Wing, Barnes Air National Guard Base, Massachusetts, during a close range aerial combat exercise against a U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor from the 154th Wing, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.

You can clearly see the two planes maneuvering at very close range, pulling Gs, with the F-22 releasing flares counter measures against (simulated) heat seeking air-to-air missiles.

The dogfight took place off the coast of Penang, Malaysia, Jun. 16, 2014, during “Cope Taufan 2014” a biennial LFE (large force employment) exercise taking place June 9 to 20 designed to improve U.S. and Malaysian combined readiness.

Both aircraft are currently deployed to Royal Malaysian Air Force P.U. Butterworth, Malaysia.

Cope Taufan

The exercise, that marks the F-22’s first deployment to Southeast Asia, featured also some interesting mixed formation between U.S. planes with Royal Malaysian Air Force MIG-29N Fulcrum, Su-30 and F-18 Hornet jets.

Cope Taufan

Image credit: U.S. Air Force

It’s not clear whether the F-22 has flown DACT (Dissimilar Air Combat Training) against Malaysian Migs or Sukhois; if this is the case, it would be interesting to know which ROE (Rules Of Engagement) were applied and the outcome of the confrontations between the Russian multirole planes and the U.S. most advanced fighters.

 

About David Cenciotti
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.

6 Comments

  1. the answer to that is niether. people give us groundcrews however- a lot of crap

  2. Oh what a useless training!
    Can sb explain to me why US airforce does such trainings?
    Cause many people here believe that dogfighting is history
    F22 (also F35) can just lock on any target from X miles away

    and no one can lock on it cause it has insecty RCS

    • (Back in 1960s) “Oh why add useless weight of canon to our new and advanced F4 when it can shot down Migs miles away with missiles?”

    • You are insane! Fights can still get up close and personal. So you suggest they shouldn’t even bother to train, and what happens when they get up close do they twiddle their thumbs?! omfg…

  3. I’ve made many comparisons between the EF Typhoon and the F-35A, adn frankly I am impressed at both planes.

    Once operational both will have a very high degree of maneuverability and in a dogfight a lot will rely on the pilot.

    Basically here is what I got.

    EF Typhoon

    Weights:

    Empty: 24,250
    Fuel (50%): 5,510lbs

    Weapons: 2,267lbs
    4 x Meteor A-A missiles 1628 lbs
    2 x IRIS-T A-A missiles 384lbs
    150 rounds: (255 lbs)
    combat Weight: 32,027lbs

    Thrust:
    Dry: 26,980
    AB: 40,460

    T/W ratio:
    Dry: 0.84
    AB: 1.26

    Wing Loading: 58.13/sq ft

    ______________________________________________

    F-35A

    Weights
    Empty: 29,300
    Fuel: 5,540 (30%)

    Weapons: 1,932 lbs
    4 x Aim 120C missiles: 1,340 lbs
    2 x Aim 9X missiles: 376 lbs
    180 rounds: (216 lbs [1.2lbs per round])

    Combat weight: 36,772

    Thrust
    Dry: 28,000
    AB: 43,000

    TW Ratio
    Dry:0.76
    AB: 1.16

    Wing Loading:79.9 lbs/ sq ft.

    The Typhoon will have an unquetionable advantage in power giving it advantages in sustained turning, acceleration and climb rates,

    but the F-35s engine thrust that gives it 1.16 is not something to be taken lightly, it gives the F-35A (according to pilots) F-16 like agility in a turning fight.

    When it comes to wing loading the Typhoon seems to have a massive advantage, however when you study wing designes you would know that Canard-delta designes have a slight defficiency.

    the Canards which give the Typhoon its impressive maneuverability also give it a downward force that needs to be compensated by having large wings.

    The F-35’s canted tails and massive elevators on the other hand produce what we call tail lift, reducing the load on the wings.
    Both designes also produce a good ammount of vortex lift and body lift when maneuvering.

    I think the Typhoon will still have an advantage in wing loading but the gap maybe narrower than what most people think.
    The F-35’s main advantage however is in its ability to perform high angle of attack maneuvers, basicaly to be able to pitch the nose away from the flight path vector.

    This is a useful maneuver when in an end-game scenario, the F-35 can make a sudden instantainious turn, and point the nose on the bandit.
    It will loose tons of energy in the process but if it kills the bandit then who cares.

    In the end, both planes will be comfortable at any type of phone booth knife in the teeth fight. The pilots will be the ones to decide who comes home with bragging rights

  4. Wow, the 22 is literally turning in on it’s ass, releasing flares and instantly reversing direction. Look at that Eagle, he has no chance to respond to the 22s sudden maneuver.

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