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Non-Stealth Teamed With Stealth Air Wing

sonicboom

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Non-Stealth Teamed With Stealth Air Wing


F-22overhead-USAF.jpg

USAF Photo

Apr 15, 2010
By David A. Fulghum



U.S. Air National Guard F-15C Golden Eagles — upgraded with advanced, long-range radars that also will serve as electronic warfare jamming and attack weapons — are becoming part of the Air Force’s composite air dominance force that also includes stealthy F-22s stationed at Langley AFB, Va.

Each fighter type will shoulder 50% of the air dominance mission now that the F-22 force has been capped at 187 aircraft. The upgraded F-15Cs will carry the larger APG-63(V)3 active, electronically scanned array (AESA) radar. The radar’s long range and ability to detect small targets will allow F-22s to operate in electronic silence with their low observability (LO) uncompromised by electronic emissions.

The first operational F-15C modified with the Raytheon radar has been declared operational with the Florida Air National Guard’s (ANG) 125th Fighter Wing. “Our objective is to fly in front [of any strike force] with the F-22s, and have the persistence [because of larger fuel loads] to stay there while the [stealthy fighters] are conducting their LO attack,” says Maj. Todd Giggy, the wing’s chief of weapons and tactics. Giggy was formerly with the 1st Air Dominance Wing at Langley. “That persistence is something we can add that no one else can in the air dominance world.”

The Florida, Louisiana and Oregon ANG will field the first 48 V3 radar-equipped F-15Cs. Massachusetts and Montana ANG units will follow so that the East, West and Gulf coasts have a cruise missile defense capability.

“We’re embracing an air-launched concept for theater ballistic missile defense as a deterrent and as a tactical capability to protect our forces in theater and for homeland defense,” Giggy says.

One of the missiles in consideration for the theater ballistic missile defense mission is Raytheon’s Network Centric Airborne Defense Element (NCADE) variant of the AIM-120 advanced medium-range air-to-air missile (Amraam).

“We’re talking to the ANG about a demonstration of an air-launched, hit-to-kill system,” says Ramon Estrada, Raytheon’s F-15 AESA program manager. “It takes the Amraam body and extends the range to support a ballistic missile mission.” The AIM-120C-6 and AIM-120D Amraam models were optimized in part to attack small-signature cruise missiles.

The Air Force will deliver up to six AESA radars this summer for installation on F-15Cs at the Weapons School and 422 Test and Evaluation Squadron at Nellis AFB, Nev. The fleet eventually will grow to 176 Golden Eagles that are slated to serve until 2030.

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/asd/2010/04/15/02.xml&headline=Non-Stealth Teamed With Stealth Air Wing&channel=defense
 
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I warned people about this months ago.
 
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Decoys are usually benign. They distract attention away from what is intended to be hidden from the enemy, until it is too late, of course.

This is different.

In this case, our 'non-stealth' and 'stealth' aircrafts are pretty much equally lethal. Wise military leaderships always keep track of potential adversaries regarding the quality and quantity of what they may face in war and when the potential adversary is a capable one like the US, it pays to pay attention to how the Americans array their forces. So when you have an air wing whose fighters can appear and disappear at will, meaning the Americans have options of deploying either type to keep your defenses guessing, it is time to have an 'enhanced' awareness of your vulnerabilities.
 
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????

I am sorry I am not following your train of thought, neither why you "warned" us about this for a long time ... care to elaborate ?

:coffee:
 
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