The Air Force Is Deploying Groups of F-22s as a Warning to Russia, China
The U.S. Air Force has just completed its largest-ever deployment of F-22 Raptors to Europe, the latest in a string of missions meant to show the world the warplane can be ready at a moment's notice.
USAF has become adept at using the world's most advanced fighter jet to make a point by deploying a small number of F-22s to global hotspots, sending a message to Russia, North Korea, and China. The program, known as Rapid Raptor, was conceived by the 3rd Wing, a unit of 40 F-22s based at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska. Rapid Raptor is all about being able to send at least four combat-ready F-22s, plus a C-17 for logistics, to a forward air base anywhere in the world within 24 hours.
The concept is a timely one, what with increased Russian and Chinese flights near allied territory as well as North Korea's breakneck nuclear weapons program. This latest deployment to Europe involved 12 Raptors flying from Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida to U.S. bases in the United Kingdom. From there, pairs of Raptors went on to visit air bases in Romania and Lithuania. A 2015 Rapid Raptor deployment to European Command included a four-ship visit to Poland and a two-ship visit to Estonia.
If you're noticing a pattern, you're right. The Raptor has a tendency to visit friendly countries on the front lines opposite Russia. Rapid Raptor is a show of force of American airpower, designed to reassure American allies that help can come quickly, and discourage Russian adventurism.
On the other side of the world, the 3rd Wing itself has been sending its Rapid Raptor flights across the Pacific Ocean to send a message to North Korea and China. In January-days after North Korea's fourth nuclear test-the United States sent a dozen F-22 fighters to Yokota Air Base just outside Tokyo. Similarly, after a North Korean long-range rocket test, the Air Force sent a four ship Rapid Raptor flight to Osan Air Base in South Korea. Periodically Raptors also pay visits to Kadena Air Force Base on the island of Okinawa, near islands claimed by both China and Japan in the East China Sea.
Rapid Raptor is a useful tool in the Air Force's toolbox, but it only works as long as the F-22 is indisputably the best fighter in the world. Once Russia and China start flying their own rival fifth-generation stealth fighters-already in development with planes such as the Sukhoi T-50 and Chengdu J-20-mere visits from the King of Fighters may no longer suffice. In the meantime, countries that act up are on notice that if they do, the Raptors are on the prowl.
