F-22's First Combat an Overkill for US

[unhappycamper]

http://watchingamerica.com/WA/2014/10/04/f-22s-first-combat-an-overkill-for-us/

An F-22 fighter jet, with the support of a tanker aircraft, can go straight to the depths of Asia. The use of F-22 fighters, therefore, is also a chance to show the strength of the U.S. military strategy on the Asia-Pacific rebalancing.

F-22′s First Combat an Overkill for US
Published in Beijing News (China) on 24 September 2014 by Xie Yong Liang [link to original]
Translated from Chinese by Kartoa Chow. Edited by Gillian Palmer.
Posted on October 4, 2014.

On September 22, the Pentagon announced that the U.S. and its allies had begun targeted airstrikes within Syria against the Islamic State. The U.S. military disclosed that the F-22 fighters were used for the first time in combat for these airstrikes since they were put into service in 2005, indicating that the jets have been fully broken in. The fighters are at the commander’s disposal and in a state to carry out combat missions within any area of responsibility.

The debut of F-22 fighters attracted worldwide attention. This was also the first time the world’s fifth-generation fighter jets were introduced in combat. Although the opponent’s strength is too weak to fully demonstrate the fighters’ superior operational capability, the deployment of the fifth-generation jets was the first of its kind, changing the current pattern of fighter jet use and potentially inspiring a craze for a new round of research and development on the fifth-generation fighters.

The F-22 jet is a new-generation stealth fighter aircraft from the U.S. military with leading world-class combat capabilities and weapons. Many of its features are included for the first time in a fighter jet, such as all-weather stealth capability, supercruise, enhanced maneuverability, Beyond Visual Range Air Combat or BVRAC, high maintainability, a vectored thrust engine, easy maintenance, short takeoff and landing—STOL—and highly informational and network-centric operation. During air-to-ground strikes, an F-22 can be equipped with 1000 pounds of joint direct-attack munitions, two AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles, or two AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles, suitable for striking legitimate military targets.

To many people’s surprise, F-22 fighters were used by the U.S. military to strike the scattered Islamic State in Syria. Countering the current Islamic State, which only has jeeps and armored vehicles in its possession with little air-defense capability, is clearly overkill with ulterior motives. U.S. President Barack Obama has officially announced his support for the Syrian opposition forces and that he would not cooperate with the current Syrian government on military actions in Syria. Its use of world-class F-22 fighters has the clear intent to demonstrate against Syria and related nations and potentially generates an impact on the civil war in Syria.

[pkdu]

1. Beijing News? Really? Nt