During his Farnborough presentation, US Air Force Secretary James Roche recalled how he and Gen John Jumper, the USAF Chief of Staff, had realised that there was a gap in the USAF's ability to hit a particular set of Day One targets.
These included moving targets far behind the front line which might need to be attacked by day, and included mobile air defence systems, cruise missile launchers and command posts. Hitting these is sometimes described as ‘kicking the door down' since it allows non-stealthy attack aircraft to pour through gaps punched in the enemy's defences.
Realised
The two men realised that some of the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor's characteristics made it ideally suited to meet this requirement.
The aircraft's tiny radar crosssection makes it virtually invisible to radar, while its integrated avionics allow it to ‘see all and know all' while flying at supersonic speed, further complicating the task of the enemy defenders.
The F-22 would require three principal additions or changes. The aircraft already had an air-to-ground capability, but required an appropriate weapon such as the 250lb Small Diameter Bomb with which it could attack targets with great precision but with little danger of collateral damage.
The aircraft would also require equipment and properly developed tactics and procedures to operate with ground forces – echoing the co-operation between Gen Arnold's bombers and fighter bombers and Gen Patton's tanks and infantry after D-Day.
The USAF began to refine such tactics during the recent operations in Afghanistan, which saw even Boeing B-52s flying close air support missions while talking to commandos on the ground.
Source: Flight Daily News
