Birds of Prey over the Grand Canyon

Soooooo an F-22 Raptor just got its entire product line's first confirmed air-to-air kill... against that Chinese weather balloon the news was freaking out about

The F-22 Raptor program began in the early 90s and has cost a total of, according to one source, $32.4 billion dollars. It has been by most metrics a complete failure which has failed to produce a viable multirole air superiority fighter. It has - by the act of replacing certain obsolete aircraft but then being cancelled after the aircraft it replaced were retired - punched holes in the USAF's lineup that the F-35, its successor, cannot fill. It also has the dubious distinction of its production process being so monstrously fucked that it would, at this point, cost less money to invent a new aircraft than to restart F-22 production.

Until today, it had zero confirmed kills. It now has one - an unarmed, unmanned balloon.

In a very real way, the United States just paid $32.4 billion to pop a balloon.

F-22 Raptor

Source: airshwk

Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor 5th generation fighter jet at the Kaneohe Bay Airshow in Hawaii. 

Ace Combat/Project Wingman

The F-22 Raptor engaging its cloaking device! It doesn't get any better than the Raptor, vapor, and afterburners! Florida may be humid, but that's a recipe for awesome vapor.

.

The 2023 Stuart Air Show

.

#vapor #afterburner #f22 #f22raptor #raptor #lockheedmartin #prattandwhitney #jet #fighterjet #fighter #aviationphotography #airforce #airshow #airshowphotography #aviation #aviationgeek #airplane #military #shotoncanon #canon #canoneosr #eosr #canonphotography #photography #pictureoftheday #sigma #sigmalens #sigma60600mmsports #mylensrental #stuartairshow

So what does everyone think about the UFO's being shot down over Alaska and Canada? I personally am LOVING it (photos are of the Alaska UFO)

F-22 & YF-23 & X-32 Aviation comic

Blue Sky

F-22 at sunset

Concept art of the NATF-22.

source

Master Sgt. Kevin J. Gruenwald - Two F-22 Raptors fly over the Pacific Ocean during a theater security mission (2009)

F-22 Raptor High Speed Pass

Source: Scott Lowe

Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor