Episode 79

27th Fighter Squadron

Angels 30, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

Unlike the recent conflicts in the mid-pacific, the Korean Peninsula was an excellent operating environment for the F-22. Friendly bases in South Korea and air tanker support from Japan meant plenty of gas. The relatively small size of the DPRK meant that a couple of squadrons could cover almost the entire country on a “Combat Air Patrol” or CAP.

In this case, Major Richard “Tex” Ewing was simply waiting. He could see the BONE and B-2 strikes on his console and he knew that sooner or later the DPRK would decide to try and break up the party. At the moment he was circling over Sunchon hoping that the MIG-29’s based there would come up to play.

“Sentry Seven to Eagle Lead. We have bogeys rotating out of Sunchon. Come left to heading zero nine two for intercept.”

Ewing pointed down with his index finger and made a circling motion to indicate to his wingman to indicate he was going to engage the targets. His wingman nodded and tapped the side of his helmet to indicate he had also heard the AWACs controller on the radio.

He quickly picked up four planes ahead. While the MIG-29 was considered a good aircraft, similar to the F-15 in overall performance, they were simply outclassed by the two F-22’s behind.

Gesturing again to his wingman, Ewing indicated he would take the two fighters to the right and that his wingman should take the two to the left.

Pitching down and advancing their throttles to full military power, they quickly passed Mach One and continued to accelerate. The MIG-29 wasn’t slow but they were heavily loaded with external stores and climbing up. The F-22’s were “clean” in that they had no external stores and they were coming down quickly from a vastly higher altitude. All of this meant that the F-22’s were able to overtake the DPRK planes quickly.

Ewing pointed forward and made a fist. With a nod, his wingman launched two AIM-120D missiles which were quickly ejected from the center bay of the aircraft. Ewing did the same.

Since they had a good lock from the AWACs aircraft and a LPI radar lock, they kept the missiles passive until the last minute.

“Go active. Now.”

The radio call was a risk, but at that point it really didn’t matter.

The missiles switched to terminal guidance less than half a mile from their selected targets. The DPRK pilots reacted with commendable skill, each reefing his aircraft into a tight turn. Two of them also managed to eject both chaff and flares. One even had time to dump his external fuel tanks.

Within seconds, three of the four planes were hit. One simply disintegrated as the missile hit something flammable or explosive inside the airplane. The second lost the back half of the aircraft as one of the two engines exploded. The third was luckier, the chaff he fired confused the missile and caused it to miss. However, the advanced fuzing system allowed the missile to detonate a few feet away and the resulting spray of shrapnel shredded the plane’s left wing.

The sole survivor headed for the deck on full afterburner.

“Tally! I have him. Going full burner.”

Hoping his wingman was with him, Ewing punched the throttles. He grunted as the afterburners kicked in, slamming him back in his seat. While he could pop another AIM-120, the fleeing pilot was popping chaff like a madman. Ewing had been briefed on but currently couldn’t remember how many chaff pods the MIG-29 had, but apparently, it was quite a few. He needed to get in closer.

With both aircraft now on full afterburner, he was continuing to close but at a slower rate. While the enemy aircraft was burdened with external stores, the Russians were big believers in sheer horsepower for their tactical aircraft. The two RD-33 engines produced about 18,000 pounds of thrust each on afterburner. The MIG-29 wasn’t short of power, that was for sure.

The F-22 was cleaner and had a better aerodynamic profile, but it also had two Pratt & Whitney F119 engines which produced about 26,000 pounds of thrust WITHOUT the use of an afterburner. With afterburner, they produced about 35,000 pounds of thrust. In the end, it was no contest. The MIG-29 couldn’t escape the pursuing Raptors.

“Fox Two.” The side bay on Ewing’s aircraft opened and quickly ejected an AIM-9X. An advanced version of the venerable infrared-guided Sidewinder, the AIM-9X was specifically designed for “Lock On After Launch” operation which was crucial for the F-22 since it carried the AIM-9X internally.

“Splash bandits. Say again, splash four.”