US sends "Raptor" fighter jets to base near Russian territory

The US military has deployed F-22 fighters to Estonia to protect Baltic airspace with NATO allies.

F-22 fighter in service with the US Air Force (Photo: Wikipedia).

The Defense Blog reported on May 9 that the US Air Force has deployed modern F-22 fighter jets to the Amari Air Base in Estonia, a country neighboring Russia, for the mission of ensuring airspace security in the Baltic region. This is part of the “Sky Shield” operation that NATO is conducting in the Baltic Sea region, the eastern flank of this military alliance.

In addition to the US fighter jets, the Baltic airspace will also be protected by British Typhoon fighters and Portuguese F-16s during this time. In addition, Spanish NASAMS air defense missile systems have also been moved to Latvia for the same mission.

Earlier, Avia-pro reported on May 4 that the US had begun planning to deploy 19 KC-135 Stratotanker, KC-10 Extender and KC-46 Pegasus tanker aircraft to Powidz base in Poland, Russia's neighboring country. All of these aircraft will be transferred from US bases in the region to Poland in the next few months.

This is seen as a move to increase the US presence in Eastern Europe, thereby curbing the influence of Russia and Moscow's special military campaign in Ukraine.

Regarding the F-22 Raptor (“Raptor”), this fighter has been officially in service with the US Air Force since 2005 and first participated in combat in the mission to destroy the command center of the terrorist organization Islamic State IS in 2015. The F-22 is an important component of the strength of the US tactical air force thanks to its combination of stealth, high mobility, integration of many sophisticated electronic devices and powerful weapons systems.

This fighter is 18.9m long, 5.10m high, has a wingspan of 13.6m, an empty weight of 19.7 tons, a maximum take-off weight of 38 tons; has an extremely small radar cross section (RCS) (only about 0.0001m2). The F-22 can combine stealth and supersonic flight speed, with a cruise speed of Mach 1.8 (more than 2,200km/h), and has quite high mechanical durability. Besides the European EF-2000, no other aircraft can do this, including the F-35 and Su-57.

For ground attacks, the F-22 carries smart bombs and surface-to-air missiles. For patrol missions, the F-22 carries only four fuel tanks and eight AIM-9 short-range missiles. Upgraded radar and sensors help the F-22 gain valuable information about targets and share it with other fighters such as the F-15 or F-16. The US Air Force was once confident that an F-22 could eliminate up to 10 Su-30s in air combat.

According to Dan Tri

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