The USAF stealth F-22 Raptor is a next generation combat fighter that is more advanced than the Typhoon II and should therefore be able to win every engagement during a Red Flag top gun combat exercise. In dogfight situations the F22 Raptor was found to be lacking. The Typhoon is a smaller and lighter aircraft and can out-climb, out-accelerate and out-manoeuvre the larger F22. It is a bit like a WW2 battle of Britain RAF spitfire attacking a larger twin engine Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Me110.

For a Typhoon to engage a F-22 Raptor in a dogfight it would first have to get close to one. That is the big problem. The Raptor is very hard to spot on the radar and can shoot down multiple incoming targets at very long range. The USAF will deploy these highly advanced fighters in situations that maximise its speed, stealth and high altitude abilities to best advantage. It was not designed to become involved in head to head combat with other jet fighters.

The problem with this thinking is believing that in every future conflict the rules of engagement will allow out of visual range aircraft to be targeted and engaged with missiles. In a crowded airspace visual identification may have to take place before the decision to fire is made. That is when the F22 is vulnerable in dogfights with other advanced more agile jet fighters as was shown when Luftwaffe Typhoons scored numerous kills against Raptors during a Red Flag combat exercise in Alaska . X

The Luftwaffe pilots used infrared sensors to spot the USAF F-22s 50km away. They were not showing up on radar. They got close fast as they knew the Raptor excels at long range combat. To survive the German pilots forced the USAF pilots to fight a turning dogfight where they could exploit the abilities of the Typhoon 2 jet fighter. The German’s used their integrated helmet mounted sights to lock on to their opposite number. All they had to do was look at the F-22 and fire. This is a feature the Raptor pilots do not have.

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