Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Nellis airmen launch last leg of F/A-22 Raptor testing

Lt. Col. Art McGettrick talks Tuesday at Nellis Air Force Base with Maj. Craig Baker, left, and Maj. Mike Kensick, right. Photo by John Gurzinski. Click image for enlargement. Graphic by Mike Johnson.

The "Green Bats" airmen at Nellis Air Force Base said Tuesday they have launched the last leg of testing for the nation's air superiority jet that will make the F/A-22 Raptor ready for combat operations in December.

The first of 175 test sorties began Friday and will run through the fall with a final exam this summer by Air Force evaluators, said Lt. Col. Art McGettrick of Nellis' 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron. The unit patch features a toothy, knife-wielding green bat of the flying mammal variety.

This last test phase will focus on the Raptor's weapons capabilities and tactics for using the fast-flying, stealthy fighter-attack jet in combat. The result will be a manual of more than 1,000 pages that details war-fighting scenarios against other aircraft and weapons systems to ensure air-space dominance.

"It's like a playbook for the football team," McGettrick said.

While the 422nd carries out the tests with 14 pilots to fly the seven, single-seat Raptors assigned to the squadron, the 59th Test and Evaluation Squadron manages the force development evaluation.

The test phase will also continue to look at the plane's suitability for being maintained. The squadron needs to ensure the Raptor is reliable and that its radar-evading capabilities stay intact through all the rigors of combat. And, the airmen want to show that if something breaks, it can be fixed.

Maj. Craig Baker said the realm of tests includes "wringing out of sensor capabilities" to testing and evaluating night-vision goggles and putting the plane's air-to-ground and other weapons systems through the paces.

"We are going to drop bombs on targets," Baker said, referring to the the two, 1,000-pound GBU-32 smart bombs, also called Joint Direct Attack Munitions.

The Raptor is also equipped with air-to-air intercept and Sidewinder missiles and a pop-up cannon that can rapidly fire 20mm bullets, said Maj. Mike Kensick, of the Green Bats squadron.

The Raptor, which can fly at more than 15 miles per minute, was designed to replace the aging fleet of F-15C Eagles, most of which are about 25 years old and are showing signs of cracks, corrosion and fatigue.

The Raptor has first-look, first-kill capability against multiple targets. In tests against F-15s and F-16s posing as aggressors, the Raptor has been invincible.

"We just clobber them every time," McGettrick said.

He said with other nations such as Russia, China, India, Iran and North Korea having so-called fourth generation fighter jets and access to surface-to-air missiles that can defend more than 1,000 square miles of air space, it's essential for the United States to stay ahead of the curve.

Many of those systems are for sale in foreign countries and "anybody with a checkbook can buy modern weaponry," he said. "Even though Afghanistan didn't have much of a military, the next adversary might."