In 2012, in a dramatic high-flying show of force, U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors sneaked up on Iranian F-4 Phantoms flying ahead in international waters to underscore America’s technological superiority and strategic finesse in the air.
The incident goes back to November 2012, when Iranian Air Force Sukhoi Su-25s tried to bring down a U.S. MQ-1 Predator drone flying sixteen miles from the Iranian border. Their competitive attitude aside, the Su-25s, meant usually for near-air support, could not bring the drone down, which, in a truly remarkable manner, proceeded to film the entire encounter with its onboard cameras.
In response to that almost exodus, the U.S. Started pairing its drones with armed service fighter jets. Fast forward to 2013, and the Iranians, apparently unaware of that recent practice, shot upon each other’s MQ-1 Predator. At this point, they dispatched F-4 Phantoms, a far greater capable opponent than the Su-25s. However, the Iranian pilots were in for a surprise.
Unbeknownst to them, an MQ-1 is covertly being escorted by a Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor. A fifth-generation stealth fighter, the F-22 has been enhanced with the next generation of stealth capability to make it nearly invisible to radar. All the while, the Iranians’ F-4s kept coming at the drone, utterly unaware of the Raptor below.
The F-22 pilot, Lt. Col. Kevin “Showtime” Sutterfield, performed a maneuver that epitomized the aircraft’s stealth features: He flew beneath the Iranian jets to perform a weapons check without being detected. After he realized that he had made his presence known, Showtime reported in by pulling back alongside the Iranian F-4 and radioing a simple but potent message: “You really oughta go home.”
The Iranian pilots, realizing that they had been outclassed, promptly ran away. This act not only illustrates the ever-existent tussle between the U.S. and Iran but, more importantly, the technological edge that the F-22 Raptor presents. As stated by former Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh, the F-22 is a “technological marvel” that stresses “stealth, supercruise, super-maneuverability, and sensor fusion” to make it the world’s top fighter.
The incident highlighted a relationship marked by friction between U.S. and Iranian members of the family since the late 1970s. Today, though, both countries are in the middle of delicate negotiations related to Iran’s nuclear program and are watched very closely to prevent additional physical confrontations.