NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev., Feb. 26 (UPI) -- The U.S. Air Force is giving rave reviews to the F-22 Raptor following the first participation of the aircraft in the annual Red Flag exercises in Nevada.
The 94th Fighter Squadron out of Langley Air Force Base sent 14 Raptors into mock fray that included U.S. and British Commonwealth pilots playing the role of the enemy during the war games that ran Feb. 3-16.
The Air Force said this week that "aggressor" pilots reported the Raptor "demonstrated an extremely lopsided advantage" in the exercises. One Australian F-15 pilot said the plane's stealthy design frustrated his ability to lock on to it even though he had visual contact.
Lt. Col. Larry Bruce, commander of the 65th Aggressor Squadron, said they tried a number of tactics in the air to gain the advantage on the 94th pilots but had little success.
"We even tried to overload them with numbers and failed," Bruce said in an article released by the Air Force this week.
The high-priced, high-tech F-22 is designed to provide air dominance for the Air Force as an interceptor capable of eliminating enemy warplanes and clearing the way for ground-attack planes and bombers.
Red Flag wasn't all about the Raptors. The exercises run out of Nellis Air Force Base included more than 200 planes, including stealth bombers and fighters and Australian F-111C bombers. Pilots were subjected to a number of threats that included simulated SAM missiles and jamming of communications and GPS systems.
