LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va –
The 49th Fighter Wing at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., provided five T-38 Talons and 19 personnel to train alongside F-22 Raptor pilots from the 27th and 94th Fighter Squadrons Feb. 20 through March 6.
The 49 FW team consisted of five T-38 pilots from the 7th and 8th Fighter Squadrons and 12 civilian maintainers from M1 Support Services. The T-38 and F-22 pilots flew more than 80 defensive and offensive counter air sorties, providing unique training scenarios with dissimilar aircraft platforms.
The Holloman team trains their own F-22 pilots using T-38s, giving them the experience necessary to make the training at Langley a success, said Capt. Penn Brown, 49 FW Aircrew Flight Equipment officer.
"This mission helps Langley pilots train with different aircraft instead of flying against one another," said Captain Brown. He added that while training with the same platform technically satisfies monthly requirements, the cross-platform sorties give both teams a more realistic experience.
Col. Matt Molloy, 1st Fighter Wing commander, said the program benefits F-22 pilots by allowing them to train against more accurately simulated enemies, improving the quality of their training time.
"We don't expect to fly against other equally capable aircraft in combat, so these exercises give our pilots the chance to fly more blue-air sorties, taking on aircraft that are much more in line with what our adversaries would have," he said.
Captain Brown said the F-22 can only fly air-to-air against similar platforms at a ratio of 1-1; however, the T-38s allowed Raptor pilots to fly outnumbered, using the sophisticated avionics systems against less familiar planes. On several scenarios, teams of two to four F-22s launched to defend a prescribed target against T-38s. In other sorties, the Raptors took to the offense, attacking targets defended by the Talons.
The training concept was born out of pure circumstance, Captain Brown said. The 49 FW began using the T-38s to train with F-22s two years ago, following companion trainer program missions alongside the B-2 Spirit, U-2 Dragon Lady, and now-retired F-117 Nighthawk.
"After those missions ended, and Holloman received the F-22, we recognized the value the aircraft could provide to fifth-generation platforms for training," he said.
Training fifth-generation fighter pilots with the existing T-38 fleet proved to be much more affordable than using fourth-generation fighters like the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon.
"The F-15s and F-16s are still an integral part of our fighter inventory, so pulling them aside to train against the F-22 would slow down operational tempo," said Captain Brown. "Using the T-38s, which were designed specifically for training, costs the Air Force one-sixth of the cost of using fourth-generation fighters."
The two-week mission also provided the FWs the opportunity to demonstrate the efficiency of the program for Air Combat Command senior leadership with observations by Gen. William M. Fraser III, ACC commander, and Lt. Gen. William J. Rew, ACC vice commander.
"ACC is standing up a site activation task force to explore the possibility of an Aggressor program on Langley," Colonel Molloy said. "We want to do what's best for Langley, and our next step is to determine the impacts on the base from a costs mission perspective over the coming months and make a decision."