Episode 100

27^th Fighter Squadron

FL 330,  Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea)

Major Richard “Tex” Ewing wasn’t really sure how the war was going. He knew he and his pilots were tired. After a time, their focus tunneled down to just their mission and the members of their squadron. Everything else was tuned out, too much effort to do anything but sleep when they were not actively preparing for or flying a mission.

Moving the squadron to Korea from the Philippines helped. Unlike the open spaces of the South Pacific, the Korean peninsula was an ideal environment for tactical aircraft. They could get from their base in South Korea to the “front lines” in North Korea in just fifteen minutes.

What Ewing did know is that the Raptors of the 27th were going to get some action today. The Long Snap alert had only come an hour ago and his squadron had been fully fueled and armed, just waiting for the call.

“Eagle Lead, this is Sentry Seven, move north to cover the transports in grid three two four.”

Ewing gestured to his wingman who confirmed he had also heard the message from the AWACs controller. He could see a string of transport aircraft headed roughly southeast. He had no idea why they were so far behind enemy lines, but he knew they would be sitting ducks if any Chinese fighters showed up. The North Korean Air Force seemed to be pretty much done. The drubbing they had taken over the past two days seemed to have taken the wind out of their sails.

The Chinese, not so much. “Raid warning. Raid warning. Two hundred aircraft inbound. Say again, two zero zero aircraft. Composition of raid appears to be primarily tactical aircraft.”

As Ewing drifted north to cover the transports, he kept an eye on the oncoming Chinese fighters. Most likely, they were J-10’s, but they could also be the more formidable Su-30.

American fighter aircraft also began to scramble. This was going to be one of the biggest furballs since World War II.

None of this really registered to Ewing. What did register is a squadron of enemy planes which detached from the main group and vectored into where the transports were retreating. These were his responsibility.

Gesturing again to his wingman, he pointed down with two fingers and used a circling motion to show he wanted to attack. Again, his wingman acknowledged.

Maintaining his height advantage, Ewing locked into a course that would allow him to attack the oncoming Chinese fighters from the side. This not only gave him the best radar cross-section, but it also allowed for a follow-up attack using IR guided missiles if the initial attack using radar-guided missiles failed. As the squadron closed to within ten miles, there was no indication that the Chinese had detected them.

“Eagle Lead to all Eagles, ENGAGE.”

Unlike the F-35, the F-22 didn’t have the ability to work closely with other aircraft. What it did have was a very effective battle management system, designed to maximize it’s air to air superiority. While the F-22 only carried six AIM-120C missiles, it was able to deploy them much more effectively than in a “legacy” aircraft like the F-15. The combined effects of stealth, Low Probability of Intercept (LPI) radar and a computer-controlled targeting system made the plane deadly against “lesser” fighter aircraft.

“HIT! Hard kill! Getting radar from the bogeys, looks like Flankers.”

While the F-22 was formidable, it wasn’t perfect. The lead elements of the Chinese formation began to maneuver wildly. The extremely maneuverable Su-30 (NATO code name Flanker) was still slower and less maneuverable than a missile, but the missile burned all of it’s fuel at once. After the rocket burned out, a hard maneuvering fighter like the Su-30 or F-16 could exit the “kill envelope” and escape.

“Miss! We’ve got some leakers.”

Ewing advanced his throttles to the max and the afterburners lit off. The plane leaped forward and the rest of the squadron followed him down, advancing on the Chinese from behind.

“Tally!!! Visual on the bogey. Flanker at 12 o’clock low!”

It was Williams again. He had not taken the message to heart last time. “Dammit, Eagle four, break off. Just shoot and scoot. Do not get into a turning fight with that bastard!”

While the F-22 was an excellent dogfighter, it was completely unstoppable at Beyond Visual Range. The Americans had decided early in the war to simply “shoot and scoot” in order to remain out of visual range. There were less than one hundred and fifty F-22’s total in the USAF inventory. Getting one shot down would be even more serious than losing the pilot. The planes were literally irreplaceable.

“Scooter! Get your wingman the fuck out of there!”

“Roger that, Tex. Already on it.”

Too late. The Chinese Su-30 pilot was either very lucky or very good. Perhaps both.

“I’m hit! I’m hit! Mayday, mayday!”

“Williams, punch out! Punch out!”

“Tagged that fucker!!” The Chinese pilot had not survived the engagement but had achieved a good trade. One Su-30 or even ten to get one F-22 was a good trade for the Chinese. This was, in the end, the Achilles heel of the F-22. The program had been canceled before the full order had been built. The result was a very powerful weapon that the USAF just didn’t have enough of.

“‘Chute! I see a good ‘chute!”

“Sentry Seven, this is Thrasher Flight, we are buster. Exfil in ten mikes. Please relay our thanks to the guardian angels up there.”