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Thread: WIRED - U.S. Amasses Stealth-Jet Armada Near Iran

  1. #1

    Exclamation WIRED - U.S. Amasses Stealth-Jet Armada Near Iran

    Coming soon to free the $#@! out of you.


    U.S. Amasses Stealth-Jet Armada Near Iran

    By David Axe April 27, 2012

    http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012...ses-near-iran/

    The U.S. Air Force is quietly assembling the world’s most powerful air-to-air fighting team at bases near Iran. Stealthy F-22 Raptors on their first front-line deployment have joined a potent mix of active-duty and Air National Guard F-15 Eagles, including some fitted with the latest advanced radars. The Raptor-Eagle team has been honing special tactics for clearing the air of Iranian fighters in the event of war.

    The fighters join a growing naval armada that includes Navy carriers, submarines, cruisers and destroyers plus patrol boats and minesweepers enhanced with the latest close-in weaponry.

    It’s been years since the Air Force has maintained a significant dogfighting presence in the Middle East. During the 2003 invasion of Iraq Boeing-made F-15Cs flew air patrols from Saudi Arabia, but the Iraqi air force put up no resistance and the Eagle squadrons soon departed. For the next nine years Air Force deployments to the Middle East were handled by ground-attack planes such as A-10s, F-16s and twin-seat F-15E Strike Eagles.

    The 1980s-vintage F-15Cs, plagued by structural problems, stayed home in the U.S. and Japan. The brand-new F-22s, built by Lockheed Martin, suffered their own mechanical and safety problems. When they ventured from their home bases in Virginia, Alaska and New Mexico, it was only for short training exercises over the Pacific. The F-15Cs and F-22s sat out last year’s Libya war.


    The Air Force fixed the F-15s and partially patched up the F-22s just in time for the escalating stand-off over Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons program. In March the Air Force deployed the Massachusetts Air National Guard’s 104th Fighter Wing, flying 20 standard F-15Cs, to an “undisclosed” air base in Southwest Asia — probably either Al Dhafra in the United Arab Emirates or Al Udeid in Qatar. The highly-experienced Massachusetts Guardsmen, who typically have several years more experience than their active-duty counterparts, would be ready “should Iran test the 104th,” said wing commander Col. Robert Brooks.

    Upgraded F-15Cs from the 18th Wing in Japan joined the Guard Eagles. The Japan-based fighters have the latest APG-63(V)2 and (V)3 radars, manufactured by Raytheon. They’re electronically-scanned radars that radiate many individual beams from fixed antenna clusters and track more targets, faster, than old-model mechanical radars that must physically swivel back and forth. The 18th Wing is working up a fleet of 54 updated Eagles spread across two squadrons. The video above, shot by an F-15 pilot, depicts some of the wing’s training.

    F-22s followed this month. “Multiple” Raptors deployed to Al Dhafra, according to Amy Butler at Aviation Week. Air Force spokesman Capt. Phil Ventura confirmed the deployment. It’s not clear where the Raptors came from. If they’re from the Alaska-based 3rd Wing, they’re the latest Increment 3.1 model with boosted bombing capabilities in addition to the standard air-to-air weaponry. In any event, the Middle East mission represents the first time F-22s are anywhere near a possible combat zone.

    The mix of old and upgraded F-15s and ultra-modern F-22s is no accident. When the Pentagon stopped producing the nearly $400-million-a-copy Raptor after 187 units — half as many as the Air Force said it needed — the flying branch committed to keeping 250 F-15Cs in service until 2025 at the earliest. Pilots began developing team tactics for the two fighter types.

    “We have a woefully tiny F-22 fleet,” said Gen. Mike Hostage, the Air Force’s main fighter commander. So the flying branch worked out a system whereby large numbers of F-15s cover for small numbers of Raptors that sneak in around an enemy’s flank in full stealth mode. “Our objective is to fly in front with the F-22s, and have the persistence to stay there while the [F-22s] are conducting their [low-observable] attack,” Maj. Todd Giggy, an Eagle pilot, told Aviation Week.

    One thing to look for is the presence in the Middle East of one of the Air Force’s handful of bizjets and Global Hawk drones fitted with the Northrop Grumman Battlefield Airborne Communications Node, or Bacon. The F-22, once envisioned as a solitary hunter, was designed without the radio data-links that are standard on F-15s and many other jets. Instead, the Raptor has its own unique link that is incompatible with the Eagle. Bacon helps translate the radio signals so the two jet types can swap information. With a Bacon plane nearby, F-22s and F-15s can silently exchange data — for example, stealthy Raptors spotting targets for the Eagles.

    It’s the methods above that the U.S. dogfighting armada would likely use to wipe out the antiquated but determined Iranian air force if the unthinkable occurred and fighting broke out. The warplanes are in place. The pilots are ready. Hopefully they won’t be needed.
    “Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.” - Arnold Toynbee



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  3. #2

  4. #3
    "coming soon to free the $#@! out of you..." gotta admit I laughed pretty hard at that.. even though it is certainly not funny.
    The ultimate minority is the individual. Protect the individual from Democracy and you will protect all groups of individuals
    Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual. - Thomas Jefferson
    I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

    - Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear

  5. #4
    Yeah, I read a news wire report about this just a bit ago.... sounds like this is the buildup.

    Damn.

    Are we really this stupid? Are we, as a country, really so completely out of touch with reality? Can the majority of the population really think this is a good idea? Have we learned nothing - nothing - from the past?

    This is surreal. It is deranged. It must stop, and I'm heartsick that so few people have realized that Dr. Paul is the only man who can cure our national insanity.

  6. #5
    Kinda dumb. What good is stealth Technology when Iran is known to have stealth detection technology?

    Though it might be a plan for disposing of all that wasted and worthless hardware.
    Liberty is lost through complacency and a subservient mindset. When we accept or even welcome automobile checkpoints, random searches, mandatory identification cards, and paramilitary police in our streets, we have lost a vital part of our American heritage. America was born of protest, revolution, and mistrust of government. Subservient societies neither maintain nor deserve freedom for long.
    Ron Paul 2004

    Registered Ron Paul supporter # 2202
    It's all about Freedom

  7. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by pcosmar View Post
    Kinda dumb. What good is stealth Technology when Iran is known to have stealth detection technology?

    Though it might be a plan for disposing of all that wasted and worthless hardware.
    Everything can be detected, the more "stealth" just means reducing that range of detection.
    Pfizer Macht Frei!

    Openly Straight Man, Danke, Awarded Top Rated Influencer. Community Standards Enforcer.


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  8. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Danke View Post
    Everything can be detected, the more "stealth" just means reducing that range of detection.
    Yeah well. It was a nice idea, and it was sold to Daddy Warbucks. But the technology that was sold was defeated and obsolete before it was even deployed. or paid for.

    All those expensive B2 Bombers are hard to maintain, hard to fly, slow moving targets.
    Very much like an Aircraft Carrier. A big, slow, high value target.
    Liberty is lost through complacency and a subservient mindset. When we accept or even welcome automobile checkpoints, random searches, mandatory identification cards, and paramilitary police in our streets, we have lost a vital part of our American heritage. America was born of protest, revolution, and mistrust of government. Subservient societies neither maintain nor deserve freedom for long.
    Ron Paul 2004

    Registered Ron Paul supporter # 2202
    It's all about Freedom

  9. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by pcosmar View Post
    Yeah well. It was a nice idea, and it was sold to Daddy Warbucks. But the technology that was sold was defeated and obsolete before it was even deployed. or paid for.

    All those expensive B2 Bombers are hard to maintain, hard to fly, slow moving targets.
    Very much like an Aircraft Carrier. A big, slow, high value target.
    It has been effective. Is any particular system worth the cost? That is a whole nother debate.
    Pfizer Macht Frei!

    Openly Straight Man, Danke, Awarded Top Rated Influencer. Community Standards Enforcer.


    Quiz: Test Your "Income" Tax IQ!

    Short Income Tax Video

    The Income Tax Is An Excise, And Excise Taxes Are Privilege Taxes

    The Federalist Papers, No. 15:

    Except as to the rule of appointment, the United States have an indefinite discretion to make requisitions for men and money; but they have no authority to raise either by regulations extending to the individual citizens of America.



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  11. #9

  12. #10
    Iran has been claiming for a few years now their SAM's are much more a threat then the Pentagon will give them credit for, this just proves it, and lends credence to their claims about their anti ship missiles. Unless the Pentagon is worried about some rooski fighters joining the fray. Either way it's bad news for us.

    It would be interesting to see the USAF vs the IAF in their F-14s though.

  13. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by impaleddead View Post
    Iran has been claiming for a few years now their SAM's are much more a threat then the Pentagon will give them credit for, this just proves it, and lends credence to their claims about their anti ship missiles. Unless the Pentagon is worried about some rooski fighters joining the fray. Either way it's bad news for us.

    It would be interesting to see the USAF vs the IAF in their F-14s though.
    Why, you like turkey shoots?
    Pfizer Macht Frei!

    Openly Straight Man, Danke, Awarded Top Rated Influencer. Community Standards Enforcer.


    Quiz: Test Your "Income" Tax IQ!

    Short Income Tax Video

    The Income Tax Is An Excise, And Excise Taxes Are Privilege Taxes

    The Federalist Papers, No. 15:

    Except as to the rule of appointment, the United States have an indefinite discretion to make requisitions for men and money; but they have no authority to raise either by regulations extending to the individual citizens of America.

  14. #12
    “We have a woefully tiny F-22 fleet,” said Gen. Mike Hostage, the Air Force’s main fighter commander.
    What do you expect when one F-22 costs more than an entire M1A2 equipped tank battalion?
    Out of every one hundred men they send us, ten should not even be here. Eighty will do nothing but serve as targets for the enemy. Nine are real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, upon them depends our success in battle. But one, ah the one, he is a real warrior, and he will bring the others back from battle alive.

    Duty is the most sublime word in the English language. Do your duty in all things. You can not do more than your duty. You should never wish to do less than your duty.

  15. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Pericles View Post
    What do you expect when one F-22 costs more than an entire M1A2 equipped tank battalion?

    Deficits and inflation?

  16. #14
    The F-22 is an actual functioning fighter jet. The F-35 on the other hand, has been an absolute disaster. The biggest boondoggle in history.

  17. #15
    Drones would be the first wave of attack aircraft this time, to expose and target SAM sites.

    Then the stealth bombers would come in to hit the remaining anti-air assets and other high-priority targets.

    I would be surprised if the USA has a difficult time suppressing Iran's anti-air defense and air force, but the question is will Russia or China actively defend Iran?

    That's the wild-card, and if we are stupid enough to War on Iran without knowing then things could get ugly fast.

    Here's hoping it's just maneuvering and not madness behind this.
    Ron Paul: He irritates more idiots in fewer words than any American politician ever.

    NO MORE LIARS! Ron Paul 2012

  18. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by impaleddead View Post
    Iran has been claiming for a few years now their SAM's are much more a threat then the Pentagon will give them credit for, this just proves it, and lends credence to their claims about their anti ship missiles. Unless the Pentagon is worried about some rooski fighters joining the fray. Either way it's bad news for us.

    It would be interesting to see the USAF vs the IAF in their F-14s though.
    Do you think the people orchestrating the wars care if the pawns fighting them die? Oh no, a few planes blew up. Use the taxpayer's money to build some new ones. Hell, they'd MAKE money on deaths of Americans and destruction of aircraft. It just means not having to pay any benefits, and means building more contracts for aircraft.
    A savage barbaric tribal society where thugs parade the streets and illegally assault and murder innocent civilians, yeah that is the alternative to having police. Oh wait, that is the police

    We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.
    - Edward R. Murrow

    ...I think we have moral obligations to disobey unjust laws, because non-cooperation with evil is as much as a moral obligation as cooperation with good. - MLK Jr.

    How to trigger a liberal: "I didn't get vaccinated."



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  20. #17
    I use to be proud to be an America when I was young and ignorant, now I am older and wiser and I am not only not proud to be an America, I am starting to hate America and the idiots that still wave their flags. Sorry, I have had enough of this farce called, "the land of the free, and the home of the brave", it is no such thing.

    The USA is now known around the world as Israel's attack dog. Only the brainwashed in the USA still believe we are better than the rest of the world. The truth is the rest of the developed world for the most part passed us by over a decade ago and they only pay homage to us now because we are still the bullies of the Earth with a military that is second to none.

  21. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by KCIndy View Post
    Yeah, I read a news wire report about this just a bit ago.... sounds like this is the buildup.

    Damn.

    Are we really this stupid? Are we, as a country, really so completely out of touch with reality? Can the majority of the population really think this is a good idea? Have we learned nothing - nothing - from the past?

    This is surreal. It is deranged. It must stop, and I'm heartsick that so few people have realized that Dr. Paul is the only man who can cure our national insanity.
    The population and country has nothing to do with this ... It's an out of control CIC, who violates his oath, daily, and summons division to create diversions.
    Let them keep thinking Ron Paul supporters are just a little army. Every military strategy manual in the world has examples of the bad things that happen to arrogant commanders of massive armies that underestimate the enemy. They all lose. We will win because the human heart, despite its detractors, is meant for truth and freedom.

  22. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Warrior_of_Freedom View Post
    Do you think the people orchestrating the wars care if the pawns fighting them die? Oh no, a few planes blew up. Use the taxpayer's money to build some new ones. Hell, they'd MAKE money on deaths of Americans and destruction of aircraft. It just means not having to pay any benefits, and means building more contracts for aircraft.
    Bush got re-elected because we were at war ... Obama isn't stupid.
    Let them keep thinking Ron Paul supporters are just a little army. Every military strategy manual in the world has examples of the bad things that happen to arrogant commanders of massive armies that underestimate the enemy. They all lose. We will win because the human heart, despite its detractors, is meant for truth and freedom.

  23. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by azxd View Post
    The population and country has nothing to do with this ... It's an out of control CIC, who violates his oath, daily, and summons division to create diversions.
    I wish it were simply a case of an out of control CIC, because then something could be done about it. The problem is much deeper than that unfortunately. The problem is the people that control our "elected" officials. They have the real power and their power is so entrenched and so powerful, that anyone, including the president of the USA, that dares defies them, doesn't live long to talk about it.

  24. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by WilliamC View Post
    Drones would be the first wave of attack aircraft this time, to expose and target SAM sites.

    Then the stealth bombers would come in to hit the remaining anti-air assets and other high-priority targets.

    I would be surprised if the USA has a difficult time suppressing Iran's anti-air defense and air force, but the question is will Russia or China actively defend Iran?

    That's the wild-card, and if we are stupid enough to War on Iran without knowing then things could get ugly fast.

    Here's hoping it's just maneuvering and not madness behind this.
    And this is exactly why Iran has a multi-level air defense strategy. A mixture of various types of technology from low tech to high tech.
    So if one type is targeted others will fill the gap. It was rumored that they had stealth detection. That has recently been proven true and it renders stealth useless.

    Iran has focused on Defense. Attacking them would be a very stupid thing to do,, from a tactical perspective. (let alone a moral one)
    Liberty is lost through complacency and a subservient mindset. When we accept or even welcome automobile checkpoints, random searches, mandatory identification cards, and paramilitary police in our streets, we have lost a vital part of our American heritage. America was born of protest, revolution, and mistrust of government. Subservient societies neither maintain nor deserve freedom for long.
    Ron Paul 2004

    Registered Ron Paul supporter # 2202
    It's all about Freedom

  25. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by Danke View Post
    Why, you like turkey shoots?
    Ha...don't underestimate Iranian jamming, they've been working hard on it. The Raptor looses many of it's advantages without it's fancy radars and guidance systems especially over hostile territory with a limited loiter time and fear of SAMs. If military planners expected a turkey shoot they'd leave it to the 15's and 16's like they've done with past turkey shoots.

  26. #23
    You've got those mixed up. f-22 is a lemon, f-35 is the functioning design. But what I hear from a pilot I know is no one would want to go into battle with any thing but a up to date f-16.

    Quote Originally Posted by Endgame View Post
    The F-22 is an actual functioning fighter jet. The F-35 on the other hand, has been an absolute disaster. The biggest boondoggle in history.

  27. #24
    Curious how many planes actually involved in this "armada". The article cites only 20 F-15's
    In March the Air Force deployed the Massachusetts Air National Guard’s 104th Fighter Wing, flying 20 standard F-15Cs, to an “undisclosed” air base in Southwest Asia — probably either Al Dhafra in the United Arab Emirates or Al Udeid in Qatar. The highly-experienced Massachusetts Guardsmen, who typically have several years more experience than their active-duty counterparts, would be ready “should Iran test the 104th,” said wing commander Col. Robert Brooks.
    and that they were "working on" up to 54 more- not saying what portion was currently available or if the entire group from Japan was being moved.

    Upgraded F-15Cs from the 18th Wing in Japan joined the Guard Eagles. The Japan-based fighters have the latest APG-63(V)2 and (V)3 radars, manufactured by Raytheon. They’re electronically-scanned radars that radiate many individual beams from fixed antenna clusters and track more targets, faster, than old-model mechanical radars that must physically swivel back and forth. The 18th Wing is working up a fleet of 54 updated Eagles spread across two squadrons. The video above, shot by an F-15 pilot, depicts some of the wing’s training
    It claims "multiple Raptors" but multiple is pretty vague and could cover anything from three upwards. The article and linked article point out that the DOD has few of these and are reluctant to risk losing any except under very serious circumstances.
    Though the F-22 has been deployed before, it has yet to see combat since it was declared operational in 2005; the high cost of the fighter is likely a reason for the Pentagon’s unwillingness to expose it to combat in a campaign such as Libya unless its high-end qualities are absolutely necessary for a mission. But the fighter has also been plagued by problems with its onboard oxygen-generation system.
    So we could presently be seeing something in the neighborhood of thirty or so planes total? One aircraft carrier can handle that many.



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  29. #25
    Next year will be the anniversary of our central bank.

    Some say that there are only four countries left that don't have central banks tied in with the global system of central banks. When I first read about it the list had seven countries on it. The list had Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya on it then. Now I think it is down to Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Cuba.

    And I really don't know if it is true but it has been interesting to see how the countries on the list are spoken of and treated.

    Anyway the anniversary of ours may not have any thing to do with what seems to be a push to knock off the last four. It is said that the system ours seems a link to was already around long before ours was founded.

    It looks to me like we have a situation where some greedy monkeys have a hold of a prize inside of a coconut that they can't let go of even though they see the world crashing down around them. They have shifted so much wealth out of the working mans world it is no longer functioning. It seems clear to me that before they can assimilate the last four countries they will be very busy with a game of whack a mole with all of the uprisings caused by the strife they've created.

    If I've some how missed you with my Super Dollar, now may be a good time to click on it below and refresh yourself with a simply explication of fiat currency. It could help you understand what I meant above by shifting wealth out of the working mans world.

    The Keynesian guys seem to think when they print up money they make the pie get bigger. I'm convinced the pie is still the same size pie, it's just that they've shifted the property lines.

    Can you dig it?

  30. #26
    Iraq has had a central bank officially since 1956. http://www.cbi.iq/index.php?pid=History
    Lybia's was also founded that same year. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bank_of_Libya
    Iran? 1960. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central...public_of_Iran
    Sudan? 1956 again. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_Sudan
    In Cuba the banks were taken over by the government in the 1950's but a formal Central Bank was not formed until 1997. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banking_in_Cuba
    North Korea- again, like Cuba the government runs everything but they have had a central bank since 1947. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central...ublic_of_Korea

    http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-central-bank.htm
    The only European countries without a central bank are Monaco and Andorra. Almost every other country in the world either has its own central bank or is a member country of a blanket type system.
    Monaco has switched to the Euro so would be covered by the European Central Bank.
    Last edited by Zippyjuan; 04-29-2012 at 06:49 PM.

  31. #27
    If we couldn't "win" in Iraq or Afghanistan, how the hell would we "win" in Iran? And all these "know-nothings" believe that Iran and Iranians are backwards, swarthy, sinister A-rabs just itchin' to kill Christian babies and take over the world.

    If we do invade, and it's under Obama, it'll be amusing to see what the neocon talking heads do.
    Well, I got Rand started on his campaign (just search around here to see). I advised Thomas Massie before he ran for Congress. I am currently advising 2 liberty campaigns for the state legislature. I ran the war-room and won Minnesota for Ron Paul a few weeks back. There are other things I'm probably forgetting.
    Yet I can't afford $200 to go to a seminar--Matt Collins

  32. #28
    Depends on who the turkey is...
    Quote Originally Posted by Danke View Post
    Why, you like turkey shoots?



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