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F-4/F-22 encounter.

They had to get the ref to Top Gun in there !!!

Please God tell me we do not live in a world where we deploy manned aircraft to escort unmanned drones.
Am I missing something here?
BV:confused:

http://www.air-and-space.com/2011030...flight%20m.jpg

This image obviously taken on the day. Looks like the "High Value Asset" may not have been a Predator after all.

:E

I was expecting F22 to be a lighthouse....

wets

BV,
It stems from the following incident back in 2012. It is the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Air Force that created the tension and caused the US to provide cover for such UAVs. Yes they have the perfect right to intercept and monitor but they don't have the right to interfere with them. The hot heads in the Revolutionary Guards units are always on the look out for the next propaganda victory. Why give them free reign to notch up their next victory?

Quote:

Iranian jets fire on U.S. drone

By Barbara Starr

Two Iranian Su-25 fighter jets fired on an unarmed U.S. Air Force Predator drone in the Persian Gulf on November 1, the Pentagon disclosed on Thursday.

The incident, reported first by CNN, raised fresh concerns within the Obama administration about Iranian military aggression in crucial Gulf oil shipping lanes.

The drone was on routine maritime surveillance in international airspace east of Kuwait, 16 miles off the coast of Iran, U.S. officials said. The Predator was not hit.

FIRST ON CNN: Iranian jets fire on U.S. drone ? CNN Security Clearance - CNN.com Blogs

I understood that from the article but it's a bloody UAV/RPAS/drone. Why place a pilot in harm's way (I realise the F22 can look after itself in a fight but sh1t sometimes does happen) for the sake of something that was designed to remove the risk to a pilot?
Is this a credible news source or is it vaguely akin to the Onion or the National Enquirer?
BV:ooh:

Sadly, he (the F-22 Pilot) failed to see the F-4 that had formated underneath him and then pulled up on his left wing. I'm surprised they didn't report that.

Bob,

I hear what you are saying but drones also bring persistence - so whilst they may have been conceived as a way of keeping people out of harm's way, perhaps that's not exactly where they sit anymore.

Also, it's quite a statement to make isn't it? We're watching you and we know you don't like it - but we've got a little toy you can't see knocking around for when you get a little tense. Perfect.

Incidentally - to the 'how did they do it?' camp, sounds like a very basic intercept onto a TIDS track to me. No need to have anything radiating for that.

Agreed, Orca. No need for the fighter to radiate.

BV....OpSec prevents us from talking about Unmanned Vehicles escorting Manned Aircraft you know.

Now if it's a female pilot, you are free to comment.

From the OP's linked article:

Quote:

“He [the Raptor pilot] flew under their aircraft [the F-4s] to check out their weapons load without them knowing that he was there, and then pulled up on their left wing and then called them and said ‘you really ought to go home’”

If the episode went exactly as Welsh described it, it was something more similar to Maverick’s close encouter with Russian Mig-28s in Top Gun movie than a standard interception.

LOLtastic, as my kids would say.

PS Sounds like the whole episode may have been ramped for the journos.

BV,
I can see your point but the Iranians can't seem to leave the bloody things alone! It always appears to the the Iranian Revolutionary Guards units that get a bit hot headed out there and incidents kick-off. Why give them the opportunity to interfere with such assets? If the assets are protected they will soon get the message.