Inside the F-22 Raptor's Historic Surprise Deployment to Europe

The Raptor continues its rise as one of America's most powerful foreign policy tools.Two major things happened in the UK during late April that raised military aficionados' eyebrows and caught aviation observers with their pants down. The first saw the US Air Force deploy twelve of the world’s most advanced super fighters across the Atlantic without any warning. It just happened. A mass of F-22A Raptors left Tyndall AFB in Florida and headed for England on a deployment that would last nearly three weeks. And no one outside the ‘need to know’ military network had a heads up about it. It proved that such things can still be done without losing the element of surprise, a point that is extra significant when you consider that the UK has an entire community built around aircraft spotting and flight tracking.

根據西方軍事情報界透露出,早在2016Q2期間,美國已派遣1小隊F-22戰鬥機,飛抵英國做交流訪問,期間據聞英國空軍飛行員與美國空軍飛行員共同駕駛F-22,在英國南部山區進行試飛活動,這項專案持續30天左右,期間據了解RM4英國王牌飛行員簽署切結書單飛F-22?

英國空軍目前正處於世代交替階段.其主力戰鬥機的機種性能戰鬥力僅能維持到2020年時期左右,英國急須更新其主力戰鬥機,尤其是壓制蘇聯SU-35.MIG-35系列的戰鬥機,因此英國有可能引進美國F-22戰鬥機,但細節尚未透露,一位退休MI6情報局人員,曾經指出,除了非美國願意轉移F-22技術資料,否則英國會採取租賃方式,承租F-22.而不會花費巨額資金購置F-22,.英國其實希望在英國境內開放生產線,製造F-22,這樣一來不僅創造就業機會,也許可以獲得F-22的資源供應,所以老奸巨猾的英國佬,如意算盤是精打細算.