The alarmingly dramatic incident, more often than not retold but with panache in military circles, showed the components of the invisibility features of the U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor closing in on two Iranian F-4 Phantom IIs without the latter being aware of it. The fact that this happened ten years ago helps bring in great perspective regarding the vast technological difference in the two nations’ air forces.
The Iranian F-4s, relics even by the standards of 1960s technology, were sent to confront a U.S. MQ-1 Predator drone. What they didn’t know was that the Predator was being shadowed aloft by two F-22 Raptors. The message says the Iranian pilots were unaware that the F-22s were there until one of the F-22s flew under their aircraft, did a full weapons accounting, and then radioed them with a message that would make your blood run cold: “You really ought to go home.”
This affair has long been romanticized into proof in the case of F-22 stealth and superiority — yet it mostly outlined the huge performance difference between the advanced American fighter and the outdated Iranian aircraft. As the military analyst, Harrison Kass, himself noted, “the Iranians flying in Vietnam War-era F-4 Phantoms were ill-equipped to match an F-22.” Of course, the literature is quite formidable for a competent airframe in its first flight back in 1958 and not in the dogfighting business that the modern F-22 is.
In the manner of an opening sequence to the 1986 movie “Top Gun,” in which Tom Cruise’s character surprises a hostile aircraft. The F-22 move has been generally called a “Maverick-ed” move, compared to the fictional heroism of the film.
But for all the drama in the retelling, the event demonstrates something more prosaic by far: the expected performance gap between our most advanced American fighters on the one side and the obsolescent, menacing air force on the other. As Peter Suciu, a Michigan-based writer, with many years of experience specializing in military journalism, says, “We shouldn’t be surprised or elated; we should have expected this outcome.” After all, the F-22 is the most expensive fighter ever built, and one should expect it to conduct such operations without much difficulty.
Because of the design constraints of the F-4, the Iranian pilots fixated on the Predator drone probably did not have information on the F-22s. A cockpit from the 1950s does not offer a lot of room, so visibility almost directly below was forbidden because of the limitations of trying to stick one’s head into the nose space window. It was that inherent design weakness coupled with the lack of maneuverability of the F-4 that placed the Iranian pilots at the mercy of the stealthy F-22.
The US Air Force’s account of the incident has been widely reported in the media, but Tehran has remained mostly silent, never even acknowledging the event. This silence speaks volumes about the technological and tactical barriers confronting the aging air force of Iran.
These incidents, within a wider context, act as a gentle nudge that things are changing in military aviation. If Iran is intent on resuscitating its air force with possible procurements of advanced Russian aircraft like the Sukhoi Su-35, the regional power dynamics will change. The U.S. military should remain vigilant and ready to deal with these changes because its air superiority can never be challenged.
While this stealthy maneuver against the Iranian F-4s could be a pure tactical win of the F-22 Raptor, it nonetheless underscores the continued requirement for technological development and strategic preparedness within the modern warfare setting.