Watch U.S. F-22 stealth jets refuel on their way to strike an ISIS target in Iraq

Published on: February 16, 2015 at 2:00 PM

Cool footage of Raptors refueling during an air strike in Iraq.

The following footage was shot on Jan. 30, 2015.

It shows F-22s belonging to 95th FS from Tyndall Air Force Base refuel over the Persian Gulf from a U.S. Air Force KC-135 while participating in a coalition air strike on a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device factory.

Along with SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defense) platforms the Raptor stealth fighters are now embedded in standard coalition strike packages as “electronic warfare enabled sensor-rich multi-role aircraft”: they can enter a target area, gather details about the enemy systems with their extremely advanced onboard sensors (including an Active Electronically Scanned Array – AESA radar), share the picture and enemy information with other tactical assets, command and control planes and AWACS, escort other unstealthy planes or drones towards the targets taking care of any air threat and even attack their own targets with PGMs.

Top image credit: U.S. Air Force

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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.
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