F-22 Raptor just had its baptism of fire

For the first time, the night of Sept. 23, the F-22 Raptor had its baptism of fire, by launching a series of air strikes against ISIS targets in Syria.    Image © wikimedia

Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor finally took to the skies on Monday night, joining its older cousins the F-15 and F-16, in an expansive attack on extremist fighters in Syria.

Wall Street Journal reports:

“Because of its speed and ability to fly at high altitudes, the F-22 can drop guided bombs from much further away than F/A-18s or F-16 fighter planes. According to the Air Force, the F-22 can drop a 1,000-pound guided bomb from 15 miles away from the target.”

Image © Tech. Sgt. Michael R. Holzworth/USAF

Lt. Gen. William Mayville, the director of ops for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at the Pentagon:

“What we were looking at were the effects we wanted to see on the target areas and what platforms in the region would be best suited to do that. We had a large menu of targets to strike from and we chose from there. Really it’s less the platform then the effects we seek.”

via theaviationist